PALM LEAVES REINFORCED CALCIUM

CARBONATE/ADHESIVE/POLYALUMINIUM CHLORIDE AS A POTENTIAL

ROOFING MATERIAL

MUHD HAFIZ BIN ABU HASSAN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

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To my beloved mother, father and all family members

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to

draw to a close this thesis. Then, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my

gratefulness and appreciation to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Aizan Bt. Wan

Abdul Rahman for her kindness and generosity as well as inspiration to push me

forward in a better strength.

Apart of that, I would also like to thank my laboratory technicians such as

Cik Zainab Salleh and En. Sukor Ishak who contributes in helping me during the

process to finish up this thesis.

Last but not least, thanks to my family and friends, whom I spent most of my

time with for their willingness to support me and as well as their thoughtfulness as

my true companion. Without them, I may not able to fulfill my tasks on time.

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ABSTRACT

Composites of adhesive/ calcium carbonate/polyaluminium chloride-PAC/

based waste material reinforced with oil palm leaves fibers have been prepared.

Roofing components were produced with these composites through a simple and

low-energy consuming method. Plant fibers, which are widely available in most

developing countries, can be used as convenient materials for brittle matrix

reinforcement, even though they present relatively poor durability performance.

Taking into account the fibers mechanical properties, with an adequate mix design, it

is possible to develop a material with suitable properties for building purposes. In

order to improve the durability of plant fibers (oil palm leaves fiber), this paper

presents the approach adopted in the research which is directed towards the

development of alternative binders, with controlled free waste (Adhesive/ Calcium

carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-PAC). Palm leaves fibers demonstrate to be more

suitable plant fibers for the reinforcement of large components as can be proved by

in-use durability performance and several tests. More recently, pulp from eucalyptus

waste and residual sisal and coir fibers have been studied as a replacement for

asbestos in roofing components. The result has shown 10wt% of fiber is the optimal

loading for composites where its characteristics quite satisfy and further loading

beyond the level has caused an adverse result on the properties.

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ABSTRAK

Bahan komposit terdiri daripada Perekat/ Kalsium karbonat/ Polialumnium

klorida-PAC/ ditetulangkan gentian daun kelapa sawit akan ditunjukkan. Komponen

pembumbungan dihasilkan dengan bahan komposit ini melalui satu kaedah

penggunaan cara yang mudah dan menjimatkan tenaga. Serat/gentian tumbuhan yang

mana boleh didapati secara meluas di kebanyakkan negara-negara membangun,

boleh digunakan sebagai bahan yang sesuai/selesa untuk penulangan matrik yang

rapuh, walaupun ia menonjolkan persembahan sifat yang lemah dalam ketahanan.

Bagi meningkatkan ketahanan serat tumbuhan (serat daun kelapa sawit), tesis ini

mempersembahkan pendekatan yang diambil dalam kajian di mana ia adalah diarah

menuju peningkatan terhadap pengikat-pengikat alternatif, dengan kawalan ke atas

sisa buangan bebas (Perekat/ Kalsium karbonat/ Polialumnium klorida-PAC).

Gentian daun kelapa mendemonstrasi untuk menjadi serat/gentian tumbuhan yang

lebih sesuai untuk penulangan terhadap komponen yang besar sebagaimana

dibuktikan dengan persembahan ketahan yang untuk kegunaan dalam dan beberapa

ujian. Lebih lagi kebelakangan ini, bahagian lembut daripada sisa buangan

Eucalyptus dan lebihan serat Sisal serta sabut kelapa telah dikaji sebagai penggantian

untuk asbestos dalam komponen perbumbungan. Keputusan yang ditunjukkan, 10 %

berat serat adalah muatan optima untuk komposit sisa buangan di mana karektornya

agak memuaskan dan muatan selanjutnya di sebalik tahap telah menyebabkan

keputusan terbalik terhadap sifat-sifat tersebut.

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TABLES OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

TITLE i

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF SYMBOLS xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xv

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 An Overview of the Study 1

1.2 Problem Statement 2

1.3 Objectives of the Study 4

1.4 Scope of the Study 4

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Roof Tile 6

2.1.1 History of Roof Tile 6

2.1.2 An Overview of Fiber Reinforce Composite Roof tile 8

2.1.3 Properties of Plant Fiber-Composite Roof Tile 10

2.1.3.1 Impact Strength 11

2.1.3.2 Absorbency 12

2.1.3.3 Heat Conductivity 13

2.1.3.4 Durability 15

2.1.4 The Composite Roof Tile Manufacturing 15

2.1.5 The Making of Plant Fibre Reinforce Composite 16

(Adhesive/ Calcium Carbonate/ Polyaluminium

Chloride-PAC) Product

2.1.5.1 Composite Material 16

2.1.5.2 Plant Fibres (Palm Leaves fibre) 18

2.1.5.3 Fiber Reinforce Material/ Composite 19

2.2 Calcium Carbonate (Filler) 21

2.3 Polyethylene and High Density Polyethylene 24

2.4 Oil Palm Leaf Fiber (Reinforcing agent) 26

2.5 Polyaluminum chloride (PAC) 29

2.6 Adhesive 30

2.7 Recent Development; Material Potential 30

2.7.1 Calcium Carbonate 30

2.7.2 High Density Polyethylene 32

2.7.3 Natural Fibre (Oil Palm Leaves Fibre) 33

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2.8 Recent Development; Roofing Application 34

2.8.1 Plant Fibre Reinforced Cement Components for 34

Roofing

2.8.2 Reformulation of Roofing Tiles Body with Addition 34

of Granite Waste From Sawing Operations

2.8.3 Bio-Based Composite Roof Structure: Manufacturing 35

and Processing Issues

2.8.4 Developments on Vegetable Fibre-Cement Based 35

Materials in Sao Paulo, Brazil: An Overview

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1. Materials 37

3.2. Blend Formulation 38

3.3 Experimental/ Blend Preparation 39

3.3.1 Waste Material Drying Process 39

3.3.2 Dry Blending 41

3.3.3 Extrusion and Injection Moulding 41

3.3.3.1 Principle of Injection Molding 42

3.3.4 Preparation of the Samples 43

3.4 Properties Identifying 43

3.4.1 FTIR Spectroscopy 43

3.4.2 Izod Impact Test 44

3.4.3 Water Absorption Test 44

3.4.4 Thermal Conductivity Test 44

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4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Summary 46

4.1.1 Fourier Transfer Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) 46

4.1.2 Izod Impact Test 49

4.1.3 Water Absorption Test 52

4.1.4 Thermal Conductivity Test 55

5 CONCLUSION

5.1 Conclusions 58

5.2 Future Works 59

6 REFERENCES 61

7 APPENDIX 66

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLES NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Physical and mechanical properties of vegetable 19

and Polypropylene fibers

2.2 Properties of Calcium Carbonate 23

2.3 Properties of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) 25

2.4 Chemical composition and moisture absorption of 28

some natural fibres

2.5 Mechanical properties of some natural fibres 29

3.1 The Properties of HDPE 38

3.2 Types of materials 38

3.3 The ingredients of blend formulation of waste 38

composite roof tile product

3.4 Waste material content 39

3.5 Determination of Moisture 39

4.1 The average values of maximum impact strength, 49

for waste material/ HDPE/ oil palm

leaves fibre blends.

4.2 Average values of water absorption (%) 53

4.3 Values of thermal conductivity for several of 56

sample of waste material/ HDPE/ oil palm

leaves fibre blends.

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 The type of Profile tile and Flat tile 10

2.2 Charpy impact strengths of fibre reinforced 11

Polypropylene composites.

2.3 Results of absorption tests. 12

2.4 Evolution of relative thermal conductivity versus 14

relative density for all composite studied.

2.5 (a) 3D molecular structure of Polyethylene; 24

(b) Repeating unit of Polyethylene

3.1 Type of an extruder 42

3.2 Type of an injection moulding 42

4.1 The spectra of various waste material/HDPE/ 47

oil palm leaves fibre blends

4.2 The average values of mechanical performance: 50

Impact strength for waste material/HDPE/

oil palm leaves fibre blends

4.3 Percentages of water absorption for waste material/ 53

HDPE/oil palm leaves fibre composites with

time of immersion.

4.4 Types of conduction model. 56

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LIST OF SYMBOLS

Al2O3 - Aluminium Trioxide

α - Coeficient of conductivity

B.C - Before Century

C - Carbon

CaCO3 - Calcium Carbonate

CaO - Carbon Monoxide

C2H4 - Ethylene Monomer

C6H10O5 - Formula molecule of Cellulose

CO2 - Carbon Dioxide

CO32-- Carbonate Ion

Cr - Impact crack resistance Ratio

cm - centimeters

ft - feet

g - gram

g/cm3 - Density

H - Hydrogen

in - inch

Irs - Impact residual Strength

J/g - Unit for Enthalpy

Kw - Water Vapor Permeability

kC - Thermal conductivity

kg - kilogram

kg/cm2 - Tensile strength at Yield

kJ/m2 - Unit for Izod Impact Strength

MPa / GPa - Unit for Tensile Strength and Young’s Modulus

m - meter

min - minute

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mm - milimeter

mm/min - Speed Rate

N - Newton (Load Cell)

O - Oxygen

ρC - Function of Density

psi - Atmospheric Pressure

r - Correlation of coefficient

seconds/cm - Absorption Rate

SiO2 - Silicone Oxide

Tm - Melting Temperature

Wd - Weight of Dry Waste

Ww - Weight of Wet Waste

xc - Gelation threshold.0C - Unit for temperature (Celcius)0F - Unit for temperature (Fahrenheit)

% - Percentage

%Mt - Percentage of Water Absorption

∆H - Enthalpy

σ - Extent of Reactant

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASTM - American Standard of Testing and Materials

BFS - Blast Furnace Slag

CDW - Construction and Demolition Wastes

CFA - Chemical Foaming Agent

DPF - Date Palm Fibers

DSC - Differential Scanning Calorimeter

FRP - Fibre-Reinforced Polymer

FTIR - Fourier Transfer Infra-Red

HDPE - High Density Polyethylene

KBr - Kalium Bromide

LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene

LPE - Linear Polyethylene

MA-g-LLDPE - Maleated Anhydride grafting Linear Low Density

Polyethylene

MFI - Melt Flow Index

MOR - Modulus of Rupture

OPC - Ordinary Portland Cement

PAC - Polyaluminium chloride

PP - Polypropylene

PSMA - Polystyrene Maleic Anhydride

PS - Polystyrene

NaOH - Natrium Hydroxide

uPVC - Unplasticizer PVC

UV - Ultra-Violet

WFRC - Wood Fiber Reinforced Cement

XRD - X-ray Diffraction

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 An Overview of the Study

The consumption of building components made with fiber reinforced cement

increasing rapidly and nowadays in developed countries it is in the region of several

million metric tonnes yearly. This occurs because it is possible to produce

lightweight building components with this type of material, with good mechanical

performance mainly impact energy absorption, suitable thermal-acoustic insulation

and is economically feasible. Within the developing world, where the lack of housing

and also of commercial, industrial and public service buildings is considerable, the

introduction of these materials can help increase production of buildings with

suitable performance. (Savastano Jr. et al., 1999)

In these countries, plant fibers can be a good alternative due to low cost, as

long as the low durability risks in an alkaline environment are eliminated. Besides, in

some countries, asbestos cement is still the sole composite in use, although health

hazards are increasingly causing concern. The main objective of this paper is to

present the performance of roofing tiles made with polymer waste (Adhesive/

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Calcium carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-PAC) reinforced with palm leaves

fibers, following the research work already done for building partitions. (Savastano

Jr. et al., 1999)

1.2 Problem Statement

The ability of roof tiles to resist the attacks of a wet and freezing environment

is of primary importance. Their other main qualities, for example strength, became

secondary in a case where the roof tiles failing such an environment. For several

years the appropriate connection among mechanical properties, resistance of roof

tiles to physical corrosion and their pore size distributions have been developed,

specifying particular methods of investigations. The phenomena of chemical

deterioration of ceramic systems were not included in those considerations. The

attack of water as well as of the acid gases on the ceramic systems has, however, a

remarkable influence on their resistance. (Ranogajec et al., 1997)

So do with the poor heat properties. The present research analyses these

phenomena, which are very specific for systems with remarkable Pozzolanic

character and fired clay materials, elucidating a wide range of new crystalline forms.

The presences of CaO in ceramic systems (obtained after thermal decomposition of

CaCO3) as well as its contact with water, in a specific environment, and the polluted

atmosphere, are the main factors controlling the deterioration step of these systems.

Some of these phenomena are known in the field of cement chemistry. Using this

knowledge, particularly as for the formation of calcium silicate hydrate and ettringite

phases, the factors controlling chemical corrosion and deterioration of roof tiles have

been determined. (Ranogajec et al., 1997)

The performance of a building’s roof is the key to the integrity of the

structure and the comfort and well being of the occupants. Roof failures run the

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gamut from catastrophic structural failure from earthquakes, fire, snowstorms,

tornadoes, and hurricanes to major leaks caused by falling tree limbs and the

intrusion of wind-driven rain under roof shingles or tiles. Damage is also caused by

deterioration of roof sheathing and saturation of insulation from ice damming and

wind-blown moisture into attic spaces through soffit, gable-end, and ridge vents.

Minor leaks due to improper caulking or flashing at roof penetrations, or roof/wall

intersections are also common. However, this project does not recovered all failures

and being upgrade completely. It just try to improve the basic properties such like

thermal properties, water absorption and mechanical properties by use new type

material fiber. (Winter et al., 1999)

In order to discover what is the effect of palm leaves fiber as reinforcing

agent with, polymer/ waste material (Adhesive/ Calcium carbonate/ Polyaluminium

chloride-PAC), several factors that influence and affect the properties of desired roof

tile has to be considered .The best formulation , modification and effective

processing condition parameters were investigated. Thus, the particular questions

that have to be answered in this area of research are:

i.) What is the effect of roof tile to palm leaves fiber reinforcing

polymer/waste (Adhesive/ Calcium carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-

PAC)

ii.) What are the effects of impact strength and maximum energy absorbed on

waste roof tile product?

iii.) What is the effect of water absorption on waste roof tile product?

iv.) What is the effect of thermal properties on it?

Therefore, this project was try to produce new alternative roof tile with

upgrade characteristic by enhance their structure like tensile and impact, have a good

heat conductivity and low water absorption with low cost.

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1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study in this presentation paper is to determine the

suitability of oil palm leaves reinforced polymer waste (Adhesive/ Calcium

carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-PAC) as roofing materials. This purpose can be

divided into:

i) To study the effect of impact strength of oil palm leaves fiber compositions

on the waste (Adhesive/ Calcium carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-PAC)

ii) To investigate the effect of water absorption palm leaves fiber on the

waste material (Adhesive/ Calcium carbonate/ Polyaluminium chloride-

PAC)

iii) To determine the thermal properties (heat conductivity) of palm leaves

compositions on the waste (Adhesive/ Calcium carbonate/

Polyaluminium chloride-PAC)

1.4 Scope of Study

(a) Preparation of the Samples Formulation

To realize the objectives of this study, formulation of waste material,

HDPE and palm leaves fibre is used as the matrix, binder and fibres

respectively. Base on the formulation the following stages are involved:

i) Dry Blending

ii) Extrusion and Injection Moulding

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(b) Properties Identifying

i) Spectroscopy test is applied by the analyses of Fourier

transform infrared (FTIR) using Perkin-Elmer 1600 series

instrument to prove characterize of elements consist in the

product of the reaction.

ii) Izod-Impact strength test is carried out to establish average

maximum impact strength, and energy absorbed at break of

waste material/ HDPE/ oil palm leaves fibre blends using

Toyoseki impact tester

iii) Gravimetrical analysis is utilized in order to employ the

averages values of water absorption of waste material/ HDPE/

oil palm leaves fibre blends.

iv) Thermal conductivity test is employed to identify the averages

values of heat conduction of waste material/ HDPE/ oil palm

leaves fibre blends by using Mathis instrument