Abstract: The international trend nowadays is to use natural insulating materials in buildings to be safe for human beings and to lower the environmental impact. Fibers extracted from the pods of the Apple of Sodom (AOS) plant are confirmed to have lower thermal conductivity compared to those extracted from synthetic fibers and close to the ASME standard. The fibers extracted from its seed pods can be used as a thermal insulating and absorbing sound materials in building. Palm tree surface fibers (PTSF), Agave fibers, wheat straw fibers, and palm tree leaves are all considered as agro wasted materials. These agro-wasted materials are tested for their promising side to be thermal insulating and sound absorbing materials. Hybrid samples are made of these agro materials on the lab scale. Thermal analysis, acoustic characteristics and the microstructure of these wasted materials are made. Sample specimens are made using different binders such as cornstarch, wood adhesive and others to determine their thermal conductivity and their applicability to be used as insulating material for buildings. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA and DTGA) are obtained showing the stability of all agro fibers. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis is also reported for all fibers and shows a broad endothermic transition indicating the melting point of the fibers. Sound absorption coefficients are obtained for the hybrid samples and indicate the potential of using these samples for sound absorption. Results also show that the average thermal conductivity at temperature range 10^oC to 60^oC of the developed specimens has average values of 0.0418 - 0.0568 W/m K.

Biography: Mohamed E. Ali is a Professor of mechanical engineering at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. He received his Ph.D. from University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988. His research interests include natural and forced convection heat transfer, nanofluid heat transfer, thermal natural insulation materials. He has published more than 100 articles in well-recognized journals and 43 in conference proceedings. He has written a chapter on Free Convection Heat Transfer from Different Objects. He is currently on the editorial boards of King Saud University, Engineering Sciences Journal and Journal of Mechanics Engineering and Automation. He is a referee for most int. J. in his field. He has collaborated research with professors at University of Colorado at Boulder, Northwestern University at Evanston, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland. His new invention of natural insulating material has been recognized by the Asia Research News 2012 and by Physics Today Magazine, July 2014 Daily edition, Enterprise. This invention was awarded a gold medal at the British Invention Show 2011 and at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2012. It also awarded the TechConnect Innovation Award at the World Innovation Summit & Showcase, in 2014, Washington, DC. He was also awarded the Distinguished Research and Publication Award for the years 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2017 by the College of Engineering at King Saud University.