Thermal Properties of Clay Soil from Uruan River Bank in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

Clay soils are widely used in Akwa Ibom State for various purposes that require cooling. It is made into pots for storage of drinking water and as walling material. Clay soils are used as a potential thermal insulator for shelters and there is need for the thermal properties of the clay sample to be investigated. The thermal properties of clay soils from selected parts of Akwa Ibom State have previously been investigated but clay from other parts are yet to be investigated; hence this study investigates the thermal properties of clay soil from Uruan local government area of the state. The result shows that the clay has a mean thermal conductivity of 0.393 Wm^-1K^-1; mean bulk density of 1.69 ×10^-3 kg/m³; mean thermal diffusivity of 1.98m²s^-1 and mean thermal resistivity is 2.55 mkW^-1. The results show that the clay from Uruan, Nigeria has the lowest absorptivity compared to the clay samples from the areas studied so far.  The temperature predictor model also shows that the clay presents the least temperature value during the highest daytime of between 13 hours and 14 hours. The resistivity and thermal conductivity compares better with the values for kaolin obtained elsewhere showing that the clay sample from Uruan local government area, Nigeria contains kaolin.

Keywords: Clay, thermal properties, Uruan, conductivity, resistivity