Thermophysical properties of stabilised soil building blocks

The thermal conductivity of lime/cement stabilised hollow and plain earth blocks, produced from Sudanese soil with the Brepak Press, has been measured using the Guarded Hot Box method. The results give thermal conductivity values for oven dry samples at (0.1–0.5%) moisture content by volume of 0.25–0.55 W/mK. For each soil type, the conductivity is highest for cement stabilised soil building blocks. The results compare to existing leading standards for masonry and earthen products. Ingersollsʹ algorithm was used to calculate the specific heat capacity of the blocks. This gave values around 836 J/kg °C, which again compares favourably to reported results for stabilised soil building blocks