Pyrolysis gases released during the thermal degradation of insulation materials based on straw fibers Khaled Chetehouna • Naima Belayachi • Laurent Leme ´e • Dashnor Hoxha • Borja Rengel Received: 28 October 2014 / Accepted: 15 February 2015 / Published online: 16 July 2015 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2015 Abstract Interest in recovering and valorizing agricul- tural biomass residues has increased in recent years in re- sponse to emerging economic opportunities and the potential for more sustainable use of renewable and easy available resources. The present research has been carried out to understand and analyze the gaseous emissions during thermal degradation of the new straw fiber concrete de- veloped for insulation application. Two straw fibers (wheat and barley) and two binders (plaster and lime) have been collected and mixed with different S/B ratios to conceive thermal insulation composites. Gaseous emissions are re- quired as a crucial investigation firstly to evaluate the en- vironmental and human pollution and secondly to predict the ignition of these new materials. Py–GC/MS analyses have been carried out for basic and composite materials at 300 °C. The thermal degradation of straws essentially re- leased cellulose, lignin moieties and trimethyl pentade- canone. Composite materials, produced 27 compounds when submitted to a temperature of 300 °C. The straw composite materials gaseous emissions appear to be influ- enced by binder nature and S/B ratio. Keywords Composite materials Á Organic compounds Á Straw/binder ratio Á Py–GC/MS Á Gaseous emissions Introduction Nowadays, the green building materials have become a major issue in order to improve and maximize energy performance and minimize energy consumption. Natural fibers reinforced composites are good candidates to substitute conventional synthetic fibers reinforced polymers for some applications such as automotive and aerospace [1]. These composites are cost-effective, biodegradable, durable and eco-friendly con- struction material that will meet the global needs of thermal rehabilitation. They consist of two or more components with natural fibers in order to obtain specific characteristics such as high tensile, compressive strengths, and reduce shrinkage and cracking. Recent literature works show that it is possible to produce high performance natural fiber composite based in clay matrix, cement and lime or polymer matrix [2–4]. The use of lime or cement lightweight concrete-based natural fibers are more suitable for non-structural parts of the building and promising as one of the possible alternatives to synthetic materials [5]. Concerning natural fibers, some studies high- light that straw bales are excellent construction materials, as well as energy efficient and even fire-resistant. Different in- vestigations have been performed to study the effect of hu- midity, moisture content and thermal conductivity on straw bales behavior [6, 7]. Unfortunately, the majority of studies on straw bales construction is at the straw bale scale and need more accurate laboratory testing in order to understand the behavior at the level of the straw fibers. K. Chetehouna (&) INSA Centre Val de Loire, University of Orle ´ans, PRISME EA 4229, F-18022 Bourges, France e-mail: khaled.chetehouna@insa-cvl.fr N. Belayachi Á D. Hoxha University of Orle ´ans, INSA Centre Val de Loire, PRISME, EA 4229, F-45072 Orle ´ans, France L. Leme ´e University of Poitiers, CNRS UMR 7285 (IC2MP), F-86073 Poitiers, France B. Rengel ASHES Fire Consulting S.A., C/Playa de las Ame ´ricas, 28290 Las Matas, Madrid, Spain 123 J Therm Anal Calorim (2015) 122:1417–1422 DOI 10.1007/s10973-015-4584-2