1/12/2018 Thermal insulation - Wikipedia

Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e the transfer of
thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in
thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be
achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with
suitable object shapes and materials.

Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of different

Mineral wool Insula on, 1600 dpi scan
temperature. Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in which
thermal conduction is reduced or thermal radiation is reflected rather than
absorbed by the lower-temperature body.

The insulating capability of a material is measured as this inverse of thermal conductivity (k). Low thermal conductivity is
equivalent to high insulating capability (Resistance value). In thermal engineering, other important properties of
insulating materials are product density (ρ) and specific heat capacity (c).

Contents
Defini on
Insula on of cylinders

Applica ons
Clothing and natural animal insula on in birds and mammals
Buildings
Mechanical systems
Refrigera on
Spacecra
Automo ve

Factors influencing performance

Calcula ng requirements
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Definition
Thermal conductivity k, measured in watt-per-meter per kelvin (W·m−1·K−1). That's because the rate of heat transfer,
measured in Watt, has been found to be (at least as approximation) proportional to

difference of temperature, measured in Kelvin;

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the area of the surface for heat to go through, measured in m²;

the inverse of the thickness of the material, measured in meter;
So to get the power of heat loss, in watts, you multiply k by Kelvins and area, and divide by thickness.

Thermal conductivity depends on the material, and for some of them, of the direction. It also depends on temperature,
pressure (for gas), etc. For comparison purpose, conductivity under standard conditions is used.

Insulation is done by using low thermal conductivity material in high thickness. A smaller area also means lower heat
transfer, but area is usually fixed by the geometry of the object to be insulated.

Multi-layer insulation is used where radiative loss dominates, or when the user is restricted in volume and weight of the
insulation (e.g. Emergency Blanket, radiant barrier)

Insula on of cylinders
For insulated cylinders, a critical radius must be reached. Before the critical
radius is reached any added insulation increases heat transfer.[1] The
convective thermal resistance is inversely proportional to the surface area and
therefore the radius of the cylinder, while the thermal resistance of a
cylindrical shell (the insulation layer) depends on the ratio between outside
and inside radius, not on the radius itself. If the outside radius of a cylinder is
increased by applying insulation, a fixed amount of conductive resistance
(equal to 2*pi*k*L(Tin-Tout)/ln(Rout/Rin)) is added. However, at the same Car exhausts usually require some form
time, the convective resistance is reduced. This implies that adding insulation of heat barrier, especially high
below a certain critical radius actually increases the heat transfer. For performance exhausts where a ceramic
coa ng is o en applied
insulated cylinders, the critical radius is given by the equation [2]

This equation shows that the critical radius depends only on the heat transfer coefficient and the thermal conductivity of
the insulation. If the radius of the insulated cylinder is smaller than the critical radius for insulation, the addition of any
amount of insulation will increase heat transfer.

Applications

Clothing and natural animal insula on in birds and mammals

Gases possess poor thermal conduction properties compared to liquids and solids, and thus makes a good insulation
material if they can be trapped. In order to further augment the effectiveness of a gas (such as air) it may be disrupted into
small cells which cannot effectively transfer heat by natural convection. Convection involves a larger bulk flow of gas
driven by buoyancy and temperature differences, and it does not work well in small cells where there is little density
difference to drive it.

In order to accomplish gas cell formation in man-made thermal insulation, glass and polymer materials can be used to
trap air in a foam-like structure. This principle is used industrially in building and piping insulation such as (glass wool),
cellulose, rock wool, polystyrene foam (styrofoam), urethane foam, vermiculite, perlite, and cork. Trapping air is also the
principle in all highly insulating clothing materials such as wool, down feathers and fleece.
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The air-trapping property is also the insulation principle employed by homeothermic animals to stay warm, for example
down feathers, and insulating hair such as natural sheep's wool. In both cases the primary insulating material is air, and
the polymer used for trapping the air is natural keratin protein.

Buildings
Maintaining acceptable temperatures in buildings (by heating and cooling)
uses a large proportion of global energy consumption. Building insulations also
commonly use the principle of small trapped air-cells as explained above, e.g.
fiberglass (specifically glass wool), cellulose, rock wool, polystyrene foam,
urethane foam, vermiculite, perlite, cork, etc. For a period of time, Asbestos
was also used, however, it caused health problems.

When well insulated, a building:

is energy-efficient, thus saving the owner money. Common insula on applica ons in
apartment building in Ontario, Canada.
provides more uniform temperatures throughout the space. There is less
temperature gradient both ver cally (between ankle height and head height) and
horizontally from exterior walls, ceilings and windows to the interior walls, thus
producing a more comfortable occupant environment when outside temperatures are extremely cold or hot.
has minimal recurring expense. Unlike hea ng and cooling equipment, insula on is permanent and does not require
maintenance, upkeep, or adjustment.
lowers the carbon footprint of a building.
Many forms of thermal insulation also reduce noise and vibration, both coming from the outside and from other rooms
inside a building, thus producing a more comfortable environment.

Window insulation film can be applied in weatherization applications to reduce incoming thermal radiation in summer
and loss in winter.

In industry, energy has to be expended to raise, lower, or maintain the temperature of objects or process fluids. If these are
not insulated, this increases the energy requirements of a process, and therefore the cost and environmental impact.

Mechanical systems
Space heating and cooling systems distribute heat throughout buildings by
means of pipe or ductwork. Insulating these pipes using pipe insulation
reduces energy into unoccupied rooms and prevents condensation from
occurring on cold and chilled pipework.

Pipe insulation is also used on water supply pipework to help delay pipe
freezing for an acceptable length of time.

Mechanical insulation is commonly installed in industrial and commercial Thermal insula on applied to exhaust
facilities. component by means of plasma
spraying

Refrigera on
A refrigerator consists of a heat pump and a thermally insulated compartment.[3]

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Spacecra
Launch and re-entry place severe mechanical stresses on spacecraft, so the
strength of an insulator is critically important (as seen by the failure of
insulating tiles on the Space Shuttle Columbia, which caused the shuttle
airframe to overheat and break apart during reentry, killing the astronauts
onboard). Re-entry through the atmosphere generates very high temperatures
due to compression of the air at high speeds. Insulators must meet demanding
physical properties beyond their thermal transfer retardant properties.
Examples of insulation used on spacecraft include reinforced carbon-carbon
Thermal insula on on the Huygens
composite nose cone and silica fiber tiles of the Space Shuttle. See also
probe
Insulative paint.

Automo ve
Internal combustion engines produce a lot of heat during their combustion
cycle. This can have a negative effect when it reaches various heat-sensitive
components such as sensors, batteries and starter motors. As a result, thermal
insulation is necessary to prevent the heat from the exhaust reaching these
components.

High performance cars often use thermal insulation as a means to increase Cabin insula on of a Boeing 747-8
engine performance. airliner

Factors influencing performance

Insulation performance is influenced by many factors, the most prominent of which include:

Thermal conduc vity ("k" or "λ" value)

Surface emissivity ("ε" value)
Insula on thickness
Density
Specific heat capacity
Thermal bridging
It is important to note that the factors influencing performance may vary over time as material ages or environmental
conditions change.

Calculating requirements
Industry standards are often rules of thumb, developed over many years, that offset many conflicting goals: what people
will pay for, manufacturing cost, local climate, traditional building practices, and varying standards of comfort. Both heat
transfer and layer analysis may be performed in large industrial applications, but in household situations (appliances and
building insulation), air tightness is the key in reducing heat transfer due to air leakage (forced or natural convection).
Once air tightness is achieved, it has often been sufficient to choose the thickness of the insulating layer based on rules of
thumb. Diminishing returns are achieved with each successive doubling of the insulating layer. It can be shown that for
some systems, there is a minimum insulation thickness required for an improvement to be realized.[4]

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See also
Thermal mass
List of thermal conduc vi es
Insula ve paint

References
1. h p://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node123.html
2. Bergman, Lavine, Incropera and DeWi , Introduc on to Heat Transfer (sixth edi on), Wiley, 2011.
3. Keep your fridge-freezer clean and ice-free (h ps://web.archive.org/web/20090213114520/h p://www.bbc.co.uk/bloom/ac o
ns/fridgefreezer ps.shtml). BBC. 30 April 2008
4. Frank P. Incropera; David P. De Wi (1990). Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 100–103.
ISBN 0-471-51729-1.

Further reading
US DOE publica on, Residen al Insula on (h p://www.energycodes.gov/implement/pdfs/lib_ks_residen al_insula on.pdf)
US DOE publica on, Energy Efficient Windows (h p://www.energycodes.gov/implement/pdfs/lib_ks_energy-efficient_windows.
pdf)
US EPA publica on on home sealing (h p://www.energystar.gov/ia/home_improvement/home_sealing/DIY_COLOR_100_dpi.pd
f)
DOE/CE 2002 (h p://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insula on/ins_02.html)

External links
Thermal Performance: Understanding how reflec ve insula on works (h p://www.insul.net/howto.php)

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This page was last edited on 16 December 2017, at 03:40.

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