Cool Singapore : alternative inorganic cool coating material for temperature reduction

• Main Author: Lian, Zhen Kuan
• Other Authors: Yang En-Hua
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77524
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore achieved a maximum UHI intensity of 7.1°C in 2003 since 1960s. Urban Heat Island does not only cause environmental impact, it also health issues to city dwellers. Cool Singapore project is a measure introduced to tackle the Urban Heat Island by reducing the urban ambient temperature by 4°C through the development of cool surface technologies. The aim of this project was the development of inorganic cool coating material. In this project, alkali-activated geopolymer was chosen as the main ingredient for development of inorganic cool coating. Cool pigment was used to provide radiation reflectivity, especially in the IR range, to the coating material. Fly ash cenosphere was chosen as the filler in the coating material, with the purpose of adding workability and heat insulation property to the coating film. Both metakaolin and cenosphere used in this thesis are environmental-friendly materials which can help to reduce the carbon emission in conventional skim coat production. The proportion of each ingredient used for development of cool coating was studied in this thesis too. The developed cool coating would then be evaluated based on its mechanical and thermal properties. These properties include durability, adhesive strength, compressive strength and thermal conductivity. Several types of coating material were tested in this thesis to compare their performance. It was found that cool coating developed in this project can perform better than the conventional paint chosen for the test in terms of their appearance, mechanical and thermal properties.