Patent for Engr. Abdullah Bugshan Research Chair in Expansive Soils

The Abdullah Bugshan Research Chair in Expansive Soils has been granted patent number SA 4544, from the Saudi Patent Office, King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and technology, on 13/12/2015 (Rabi’I – 02 - 1437H). The patent titled “COMPOSITION AND SYSTEM FOR THERMAL INSULATION ", is invented by Prof. REFAT EL-SHEIKHY (Engr. Abdullah Bugshan Research Chair in Expansive Soils), Prof. MOSLEH AL-SHAMRANI (Civil Engineering Department), and Prof. ABDUL MOHSEN ALSHAIKH (Civil Engineering Department).

The invention is a Thermal Insulator composition system made of nanoclay powder with powder made of palm fronds, which are natural, green, cheap, and environmentally friendly materials. The system is simple with low cost, light weight, with no side effect, sustainable and energy saver. It may be in the form of flexible and deformable sheets or hard plates. The invention is suitable for many different applications such as in insulations of buildings, food packaging, automobile, machines, air condition systems, electrical devices and cables, and aircrafts and aerospace engineering, medical devices and biomedical engineering. It can be used as a thermal lining and coating. It has been successfully used for insulating the elevated water tanks controlling the water temperature at a suitable degree for human use in summer.