Abstract

This study aims to investigate the influence of PET bottle type used during PET panel manufacturing on their thermal performance. Used PETBs are an increasing threat to the environment. Plastic wastes cause air pollution, and water and soil contamination. Nowadays, vast amounts of such waste are unsafely disposed of in Brazil. The reuse of PETBs for PET panel manufacturing may contribute to minimizing or eliminating their recycling costs and reduce solid waste pollution. The classification and characterization of the most frequently commercialized PETBs were carried out.  A PET panel prototype, adjustable to the PETB types most commonly used in Brazil, was designed and built. The influence of PETB type on PET panels' thermal performance was evaluated by measuring the PET panel prototype's equivalent thermal resistance with an unfilled air chamber and with the air chamber filled with 5-, 2-, 1-, and 0.5-L PETBs, respectively. The null hypothesis, which corresponds to the equal variability between the equivalent thermal resistance for the filled and unfilled PET panel prototype's air chamber, was tested. F-tests were used.  The Null hypothesis for 5-L PETB may be accepted and rejected for 2-, 1-, and 0.5-L PETBs. The thermal transmittance of PETB panels manufactured with all PETB types included in this work meets the requirements established by law for any Brazilian bioclimatic subzone.

Key words: Solid waste, PET bottles disposal, resource reuse, heat transfer, low-cost housing, circular.