Topic : Insulation Material

Name : Anish kumar shukla

E-mail : ashukla@dtps.bses.com

Selection of insulation material

C 4/12 , BSES NAGAR

Dahanu TPS. , Dahanu Road .
Dist : Thane , Pin :401 608 (M.S)

INTRODUCTION
The energy sources used are limited in magnitude and those will be exhausted by the end of
21st century even if the present rate of demand is continued. These energy resources can be
used for a longer time if proper conservation methods are used and available resources are
properly managed. In general energy can be conserved by avoiding the waste. Therefore to
reduce the wastage of energy in form of heat, furnaces, and pipes carrying fluids at elevated
temperature and turbines are insulated.

What is Thermal Insulation?

Insulation is defined as a material or combination of materials, which retard the flow of heat.
The materials can be adapted to any size, shape or surface. A variety of finishes are used to
protect the insulation from mechanical and environmental damage, and to enhance
appearance.

Where is Mechanical Thermal Insulation Installed?

Mechanical thermal insulations are materials that insulate the components of mechanical
systems in commercial buildings and industrial processes.
In buildings such as shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and hotels, mechanical insulations
are installed to improve the energy consumption of the buildings' cooling and heating systems,
domestic hot and chilled water supply, and refrigerated systems including ducts and housings.
For industrial facilities, such as power plants, refineries, and paper mills, mechanical thermal
insulations are installed to control heat gain or heat loss on process piping and equipment,
steam and condensate distribution systems, boilers, smoke stacks, bag houses and
precipitators, and storage tanks.

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Functions of Insulation
Insulation is used to perform one or more of the following functions:
Reduce heat loss or heat gain to achieve energy conservation.
Protect the environment through the reduction of CO2, NOx and greenhouse gases.
Control surface temperatures for personnel and equipment protection.
Control the temperature of commercial and industrial processes.
Prevent or reduce condensation on surfaces.
Increase operating efficiency of heating/ventilation/cooling, plumbing, steam, process and
power systems.
Prevent or reduce damage to equipment from exposure to fire or corrosive atmospheres.
Assist mechanical systems in meeting USDA (FDA) criteria in food and pharmaceutical
plants.
Reduce noise from mechanical systems

Benefits of insulation:
Energy savings
Substantial quantities of heat energy are wasted daily in industrial plants nationwide because
of uninsulated undermaintained or underinsulated heated or cooled surfaces.
Properly designed and installed insulation systems will immediately reduce the need for
energy. Benefits to industry include enormous cost savings, improved productivity and
enhanced environmental quality.

Process Control
By reducing heat loss or gain, insulation can help maintain process temperature to a predetermined value or within a predetermined range. The insulation thickness must be sufficient
to limit the heat transfer in a dynamic system or limit the temperature change, with time, in a
static system. The need to provide time for owners to take remedial action in emergency
situations in the event of loss of electrical power, or heat sources is a major reason for this
action in static systems.

Condensation Control
Specifying sufficient insulation thickness with an effective vapor retarder system is the most
effective means of providing a system for controlling condensation on the membrane surface
and within the insulation system on cold piping, ducts, chillers and roof drains. Sufficient
insulation thickness is needed to keep the surface temperature of the membrane above the
highest possible design dew point temperature of the ambient air so condensation does not
form on the surface. The effective vapor retarder system is needed to restrict moisture
migration into the system through the facing, joints, seams, penetrations, hangers, and
supports. By controlling condensation, the system designer may control the potential for
Degrading system service life and performance.
Corrosion of pipes, valves and fittings caused by water collected and contained within
insulation system.

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Personnel Protection
Thermal insulation is one of the most effective means of protecting workers from second and
third degree burns resulting from skin contact for more than 5 seconds with surfaces of hot
piping and equipment operating at temperatures above 136.4F (ASTM C 1055). Insulation
reduces the surface temperature of piping or equipment to a safer level as required by OSHA,
resulting in increased worker safety and the avoidance of worker downtime due to injury.

Fire Protection
Used in combination with other materials, insulation helps provide fire protection in:
Firestop systems designed to provide an effective barrier against the spread of flame, smoke,
and gases at penetrations of fire resistance rated assemblies by ducts, pipes, and cable.
Grease- and air-duct fireproofing.
Electrical and communications conduit and cable protection.

Sound Attenuation
Insulation materials can be used in the design of an assembly having a high sound
transmission loss to be installed between the source and the surrounding area. Sometimes,
insulations with high sound absorption characteristics may be used on the source side of an
enclosure to help lower the exposure to people to noise in areas immediately around the noise
source by absorption and thereby contribute to the reduction of the noise level on the other
side of the enclosure.

Aesthetics
Most mechanical insulation systems in commercial construction are not generally visible to the
occupants of the building. The common exceptions to this are found in mechanical equipment
rooms where the heating equipment, cooling equipment, and the associated piping are visible
to the personnel who work or otherwise must access these areas. It is common practice to
require a finished and neat appearance for insulation surfaces that are visible within the
building envelope. These surfaces may also be painted or covered for a more acceptable
appearance in the case of hospitals, schools, supermarkets, restaurants and even in industrial
facilities in food processing, and computer component manufacturing where visible to the
occupants.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Thermal insulation for mechanical systems provides immediate reductions in CO2, NOx and
greenhouse gas emissions to the outdoor environment in flue or stack emissions by reducing
fuel consumption required at the combustion sites because less heat is gained or lost by the
system.
Understanding Heat Flow/Heat Transfer
In order to understand how insulation works, it is important to understand the concept of heat
flow or heat transfer. In general, heat always flows from warmer to cooler surfaces. This flow
does not stop until the temperature in the two surfaces is equal. Heat is 'transferred' by three
different means: conduction, convection and radiation. Insulation reduces the transference of
heat.

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Conduction
Conduction is direct heat flow through solids. It results from the physical contact of one object
with another. Heat is transmitted by molecular motion. Molecules transmit their energy to
adjoining molecules of lesser heat content, whose motion is thereby increased. For example,
when people first sit down on cold metal chairs, they instantly feel the discomfort that comes
from the contact of a warm body with a cold chair as body heat is quickly transferred from the
skin, and through clothing, to the chair by conduction.

Convection
Convection is the flow of heat (forced and natural) within a fluid. A fluid is a substance that may
be either a gas or a liquid. The movement of a heat- carrying fluid occurs either by natural
convection or by forced convection as in the case of a forced-air furnace. For example, people
usually detect a draft when standing close to a single glazed window in the winter. Air within
the room tends to stratify so that the air near the ceiling is warmer because it has become less
dense when heated and so it rises. This is natural convection. That warm air loses heat to the
vertical window because heat flows from hot to cold. This air becomes cooler and denser, so it
begins to sink. This is the draft felt by people and is another example of natural convection.
Warm air entering a room from a supply duct is an example of forced convection.
Radiation
Radiation is a process by which heat flows from a higher temperature body to lower
temperature body by means of electromagnetic energy transfer. The intensity of emission
depends on the temperature and nature of the body surface. The heat transfer by radiation
becomes more significant as the temperature of the object rises. Any hot body emits radiation
in form of heat, which can be received by an other solid body in the path of the heat radiation.
The earth receives all its energy from the sun by radiation.
Radiation energy transfer plays an important role in high temperature applications such as
metal melting and processing, kilns, ceramics curing and solar heating.
How Insulation Works
The basic requirement for thermal insulation is to provide a significant resistance path to the
flow of heat through the insulation material. To accomplish this, the insulation material must
reduce the rate of heat transfer by conduction, convection, radiation, or any combination of
these mechanisms.
This provides information on three general types of insulation:
Mass insulation with air or another gas with thermal properties similar to air within the
interstices inside the material. Many cellular insulations, and all fibrous and granular
insulations are of this type.
Mass insulation with low conductivity gas within the interstices inside the material. Some
closed cellular insulations are of this type.
Reflective insulation bounding one or both sides of an air space. Many insulation facings such
as FSK (foil/scrim/kraft) are of this type

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Physical Properties
Mass Insulation
For mass insulation types, the most important physical property is thermal conductivity.
Materials with low thermal conductivity allow less heat to be transferred per unit time, per unit
temperature difference per inch of thickness. All other items being the same, materials with
lower thermal conductivities are better insulators. Commercially available mass insulations
have thermal conductivities at 75F mean temperature less than 0.5 Btu in/(hr, S.F., F).
Reflective Insulation
For reflective insulation types, the important physical property is low surface emittance.
Surfaces with low emittance have high reflectance. Reflective insulations have emittance
values in the range of 0.04 to 0.1.

Selecting an Insulation
The owner, engineer, general contractor, insulation contractor and insulation and accessories
manufacturers must communicate with each other from the very beginning of a project in order
to minimize problems in the stages of design, specification preparation, construction,
operations, and maintenance. Open and frank discussion between all parties is critical to
helping the engineer establish the proper design criteria, define pipe and duct dimensions,
select the insulation materials types and thicknesses, facings or jackets, and define the
installation procedures to be followed. Ambiguities and omissions diminish when
communications is encouraged.
Such a discourse, along with knowledge of the most important insulation criteria as detailed
below, will aid the engineer in calculating the thicknesses required for the intended service.
Selecting an Insulation
Characteristics of Insulation
Insulations have different properties and limitations depending upon the service, location, and
required longevity of the application. These are taken into account by engineers when
considering the insulation needs of an industrial or commercial application. The insulating
material used for steam pipes should possess the following properties: It should have high insulating efficiency. The maximum heat loss from insulated pipe should
not exceed 1 k-cal per hour per M per C.
Insulating efficiency = (bare surface loss insulated loss) / bare surface loss.

It should have high mechanical strength so that vibrations and knocks will not adversely
affect it.
It should not be affected by moisture.
It should not cause corrosion of pipes if chemically decomposed.
The material should be easily applied or removed.
It should be able to withstand the temperature to which it will be subjected.
It should be stable and resist deterioration over the working life of the pipe.
It should be easily moulded and applied.
It should not overload the pipe by its dead weight.
It should not be too costly.
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The materials most commonly used for steam pipe insulations are asbestos, magnesia, cork,
hairfelt, woolfelt, rockwool and diatomaceous earths. Most commercial insulations are either
built up from corrugated asbestos paper or laminated asbestos paper artificially roughened to
produce air spaces or are moulded or felted with asbestos.
A very common and effective insulation for temperature up to 400 C is the moulded 85%
magnesia (85% carbonate of magnesia and 15% binder). The insulation used for
higher temperature should have inner layer of some special high temperature insulation as
high temp. Decomposes the inner layer of magnesia. High temperature breaks down the
magnesia into asbestos fibre and magnesium oxide and, therefore destroys cohesion between
the pipe and insulation.
A layer of glass silk before giving the layer of magnesia is generally used for pipe insulation
when the temperature is above 500 C. Glass silk has an advantage of cleanliness, is noninflammable and can withstand vibrations and rough handling without losing its form or
insulating efficiency. The packing density is varied between 100 to 150 kg per cubic metre as
per requirements.
Generally steam pipes are lagged to a thickness of 8.5 cm with plastic magnesia, which is
reinforced with galvanised wire netting and covered with 1.5 cm thick hard setting of nonconducting material. The lagging finally covered by a wrapping of canvas and two coats of
selected paints are given to the surface.
The small steam pipes should have the same insulation thickness as large ones as the heat
loss per sq. Meter on a small pipe is higher than large pipe.
The insulation manufacturers publish `insulation efficiency` data for different thickness of their
different grades of insulation. Such tables generally provide the efficiency data against two
variables as pipe size and temperature difference.
The amount of insulation to be applied is an economic problem like many other power plant
design problems. The cost of insulation must be weighed against the saving of heat energy
obtained due to insulation.

Definitions related to insulations:

Thermal Resistance (R) (C m h/Cal)
The quantity determined by the temperature difference, at steady state, between two defined
surfaces of a material or construction that induces a unit heat flow rate through a unit area. A
resistance associated with a material shall be specified as a material R. A resistance
associated with a system or construction shall be specified as a system R.

Apparent Thermal Conductivity (ka) (K-cal m. /h m C)

A thermal conductivity assigned to a material that exhibits thermal transmission by several
modes of heat transfer resulting in property variation with specimen thickness or surface
emittance.

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Thermal Conductivity (k) (K-cal m. /h m C)

The time rate of steady state heat flow through a unit area of a homogenous material induced
by a unit temperature gradient in a direction perpendicular to that unit area. Materials with
lower k factors are better insulators.

Density (lb/f3) (kg/m3)

This is the weight of a specific volume of material measured in pounds per cubic foot
(kilograms per cubic meter).
Surface Burning Characteristics
These are comparative measurements of flame spread and smoke development with that of
select red oak and inorganic cement board. Results of this test may be used as elements of a
fire-risk assessment, which takes into, account all of the factors, which are pertinent to an
assessment of the fire hazard or fire risk of a particular end use.
Compressive Resistance
This is a measure of the material to resist deformation (reduction in thickness) under a
compressive load. It is important when external loads are applied to an insulation installation.
Two examples are deforming the insulation on a pipe at a Clevis type hanger due to the
combined weight of the pipe and its contents between the hangers and....Resistance of an
insulation to compress on an outdoor rectangular duct due to heavy mechanical loads from
external sources such as wind, snow, or occasional foot traffic
Thermal Expansion/Contraction and Dimensional Stability
Insulation systems are installed under ambient conditions that may differ from service
conditions. When the operating conditions are imposed, metal surfaces may expand or
contract differently from the insulation and finish applied. This can create openings and parallel
heat flow and moisture flow paths that can degrade system performance.
Long- term satisfactory service requires that the insulating materials, closure materials,
facings, coating, and accessories withstand the rigors of temperature, vibration, abuse, and
ambient conditions without adverse loss of dimensions.
Water Vapor Permeability
This is the time rate of water vapor transmission through unit area of flat material of unit
thickness induced by unit vapor pressure difference between two specific surfaces, under
specified temperature and humidity conditions. It is important when insulation systems will be
operating with service temperatures below the ambient air. Materials and systems with low
water vapor permeability are needed in this service.
Cleanability
Ability of a material to be washed or otherwise cleaned to maintain its appearance.
Temperature Resistance
Ability of a material to perform its intended function after being subjected to high and low
temperatures, which the material might be expected to encounter during normal use.
Weather Resistance
Ability of a material to be exposed for prolonged periods of time to the outdoors without
significant loss of mechanical properties.
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Abuse Resistance
Ability of a material to be exposed for prolonged periods of time to normal physical abuse
without significant deformation or punctures.
Ambient Temperature
The dry bulb temperature of surrounding air when shielded from any sources of incident
radiation.
Corrosion Resistance
Ability of a material to be exposed for prolonged periods of time to a corrosive environment
without significant onset of corrosion and the consequential loss of mechanical properties.
Fire Resistance/Endurance
Capability of an insulation assembly exposed for a defined period of exposure to heat and
flame (fire) with only a limited and measurable loss of mechanical properties. Fire endurance is
not a comparative surface-burning characteristic for insulation materials.
Fungal Growth Resistance
Ability of a material to be exposed continuously to damp conditions without the growth of
mildew or mold.

Insulation Types, Forms & Finishes

Mass Insulation Types
Fibrous Insulation

Composed of air finely divided into interstices by small diameter fibers usually chemically or mechanically
bonded and formed into boards, blankets, and hollow cylinders.

Fiber glass or mineral fiber

Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Refractory ceramic fiber

Cellular Insulation
Composed of air or some other gas contained within foam of stable small bubbles and formed into boards,
blankets, or hollow cylinders.

Cellular glass
Elastomeric foam
Phenolic foam
Polyethylene
Polyisocyanurates
Polystyrene
Polyurethanes
Polyimides

Granular Insulation
Composed of air or some other gas in the interstices between small granules and formed into blocks, boards,
or hollow cylinders.

Calcium silicate
Insulating finishing cements
Perlite
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Forms of Insulation
Board
Rigid or semi-rigid self-supporting insulation formed into rectangular or curved shapes.
Calcium silicate
Fiber glass or mineral fiber
Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Polyisocyanurates
Polystyrene
Block
Rigid insulation formed into rectangular shapes.
Calcium silicate
Cellular glass
Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Perlite
Sheet
Semi-rigid insulation formed into rectangular pieces or rolls.
Fiber glass or mineral fiber
Elastomeric foam
Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Polyurethane
Flexible Fibrous Blankets
A flexible insulation used to wrap different shapes and forms.
Fiber glass or mineral fiber
Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Refractory ceramic fiber

Pipe & Fitting Insulation Pre-formed insulation to fit piping, tubing & fittings

Calcium silicate
Cellular glass
Elastomeric foam
Fiber glass or mineral fiber
Mineral wool or mineral fiber
Perlite
Phenolic foam
Polyethylene
Polyisocyanurates
Polyurethanes

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Foam
Liquid mixed at the time of application which expands and hardens to insulate irregular areas
and voids.
Polyisocyanurates
Polyurethane
Spray Applied Insulation
Liquid binders or water introduced to an insulation while spraying on to flat or irregular surfaces
for fire resistance, condensation control, acoustical correction and thermal insulation.
Mineral wool or mineral fiber

Loose fill Granular insulation used for pouring expansion joints.

Perlite
Vermiculite

Cements (Insulating and Finishing Muds)

Produced with mineral wool and clay insulation, these cements may be hydraulic setting or air
drying types.
Flexible Elastomeric Foam
Foam sheets and tubing insulation containing vulcanized rubber.
Insulation Types, Forms & Finishes:
Insulation Finishes
Insulation finishes are important because the ability of an insulation system to perform as
designed and specified is dependent upon protection from moisture, weather, chemical and
mechanical damage. Insulation can also be used to enhance system appearance.
Weather Barriers
Protect the insulation from rain, snow, ice, sunlight, ultraviolet degradation, ozone and residues
of chemical compounds in the atmosphere.
Mastic
Metal
Plastic
Roofing felt
Vapor Retarders
Retard the passage of moisture vapor from the atmosphere to the interior of the insulation
system.
CPVC
FRP
Laminated foil-scrim membranes
Mastic
Metal
Plastic
PVC
Reinforced polyester resin
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Mechanical Abuse Protection

Rigid jacketing provides protection against mechanical abuse from personnel
equipment, machinery, etc.
Metal
Plastic

Appearance Chosen primarily for appearance value in exposed areas.

Fabrics
Laminate foil/scrim membranes
Painted metal
Paints
PVC

Insulation Through the Centuries

Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have recognized the need for insulation. Prehistoric man clothed himself with wool and skins from animals, and built homes of wood, stone,
earth, and other materials to protect against the cold in winter and the heat in summer. Over
the years, man discovered:
Asbestos
Asbestos was first discovered by the ancient Greeks and Romans and was used extensively in
containers because of its resistance to heat and fire. More recently, a pipe insulation made
from corrugated layers of asbestos paper was developed for hot applications, i.e. Air Cell pipe
insulation.
Steam Baked Portuguese Cork
The Romans used cork for insulation. They used it in shoes to keep their feet warm. As
industrialization expanded, cork was used as an insulation for ice houses. Blocks of ice were
cut from frozen lakes in winter and stored in cork-lined ice houses for use in summer. When
mechanical refrigeration came into use, steam baked cork board was used to insulate pipes
and equipment.
Rock Wool
One of the first users were the natives of the Hawaiian Islands who used rock wool to blanket
their huts. The fibers came from volcanic deposits where escaping steam had broken the
molten lava into fluffy fibers.
Man-Made Rock Wool
This was developed in the early industrialization period. Steam was injected into molten slag, a
by-product from iron furnaces. It has been widely used for both building and industrial
insulation. As more and more uses were found, rock wool was modified and preformed into
different shapes such as pipe insulation.
Magnesia
A now obsolete material used for many years was 85 percent magnesia. This material was
similar to the calcium silicate used today but had a lower maximum use temperature and
contained asbestos fibers as a reinforcing agent.
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* High-Fiber-Content Felt/Paper
Materials made from layers of high-fiber-content felt or paper, with layers of asphalt saturated
felt formerly were used on moderate-to- cold temperature applications.
Today, materials manufactured from fibreglass, ceramic, mineral wool, calcium silicate,
foamed plastic, glass, and other substances are used in many shapes and forms.

The following table gives the bare surface heat losses in kW / m

BARE SURFACE HEAT LOSSES IN KW/M
PIPE DIA "

BARE SURFACE HEAT LOSSES (KW/M) AT DIFF. OPERATING TEMPERATURES

100
200
300
400
500
600
0.50
1.15
3.93
8.3
14.83
24.3
37.5
1.00
1.09
3.74
7.95
14.32
23.6
36.65
1.50
1.04
3.6
7.7
13.98
23.1
36
2.00
1.01
3.53
7.46
13.78
22.83
35.6
3.00
0.97
3.4
7.35
13.45
22.4
35.1
4.00
0.95
3.3
7.2
13.21
22.1
34.7
6.00
0.9
3.19
6.95
12.89
21.63
34.1
8.00
0.89
3.16
6.9
12.75
21.5
33.95
10.00
0.87
3.1
6.8
12.62
21.4
33.75
12.00
0.86
3.06
6.72
12.52
21.18
33.6
14.00
0.85
3.04
6.68
12.47
21.1
33.45
Flat surfaces 0.84
3.01
6.63
12.4
21
33.3

700
55.6
54.5
53.75
53.3
52.6
52.2
51.4
51.25
51
50.7
50.6
50.45

So energy costs would make it economical to insulate even surfaces at temperatures 50 to 60

C.
Bare pipes carrying high temperature steam lose much heat to the atmosphere. The heat lost
through pipe has high potential for work; therefore, practically every hot pipe in the modern
power plant should be insulated.
By insulating the hot pipes, there is not only conservation of heat energy but it also avoids an
uncomfortable overheated atmosphere in the vicinity of pipe.

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ECONOMIC THICKNESS OF INSULATION

The economic thickness of insulation depends on the first cost (initial cost) and maintenance
cost of insulation and annual value of heat loss, which depends on the cost of producing the
steam and thermal conductivity of the lagging. Generally thicker insulation will represent higher
owing costs and lower heat loss costs.
The heat loss through insulation on the pipe per metre length is given by
Q = 2**k* [(T1-T2)/log (R2/R1)]
Where,
T1 is inner surface temperature of insulation.
T2 is outer surface temperature of insulation.
R1 and R2 are inner and outer radii of insulation, and
K is the thermal conductivity of insulating material.
The cost of insulation material per metre length is given as
=* [(R2) (R1) ] *C1
Where C1 is the cost of lagging material in rupees per cubic metre.
Let P be the percentage of the first cost that must be expended annually on investment and
maintenance of insulation.
Let C2 be the loss in rupees due to heat loss of 1 k-cal per hour.
Total hourly cost per metre length of insulation is given by
C = [2(12)/Log (R2/R1)] C2 + [ {(R2) (R1) }PC1]/100
If K, T1, T2, C1, P, C2 &R1 are fixed, but R2 may be varied to make total cost C minimum.
To find out the maximum value of R2 to make C minimum, the required condition is
dC/dR2=0

OR

dC/dR=0

Where R=R2/R1

d/dR [{2*(1-T2)*C2} / Log R + R1*(R-1)*P*C1/100] = 0

-[{2(12)C2}] / R * (Log R)] + R1*P*C1*2R/100 = 0
OR

(R*LogR) = [{K*(T1-T2)*C2*100} /{(R1) *P*C1}]

From the above equation value of R can be found out and inner radii of insulation is same as
the outer radii of the pipe to be insulated. Therefore value of R2 can also be determined from
the relation R=R2/R1.
Thickness of insulation T is given by
T = R2 R1
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CONCLUSION:
The basic requirement for thermal insulation is to provide a significant resistance
path to the flow of heat through the insulation material. To accomplish this, the insulation
material must reduce the rate of heat transfer by conduction, convection, radiation, or any
combination of these mechanisms.
Economic thickness of an insulation material is a calculated parameter in which the owning
costs i.e. initial and maintenance costs of greater or lesser thicknesses are compared with the
relative values of heat energy, which might be saved by such various thicknesses. Basic
benefits that we are getting due to insulating pipe or furnaces should be taken into
consideration along with the total cost i.e. initial & maintenance cost while selecting insulating
material.

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