Pipes and pipelines are an excellent application for the use of improved thermal insulation since the external surface area of the insulation increases as a result of increasing the insulation thickness because of the cylindrical geometry.  This is best illustrated with an example; Imagine a 1/2" (12 mm) diameter pipe which has a 1/2" thick layer of insulation.  If one desires to decrease the heat loss/gain by increasing the insulation thickness to 2" (50 mm), he thickness would be four times greater but the reduction in heat loss/gain would only be a factor of two since the external area of the pipe is increased by a factor of three.  If one looks at the volume of insulation that was added (i.e., proportional to cost), the insulation volume required to achieve the 50% reduction in heat loss/gain is a factor of nine. Thus, this geometry effect reduces the effectiveness of adding more insulation and instead suggests greater value in the use of higher performance insulation.  The value associated with the use of an improved thermal insulation (lower conductivity, higher R/inch) may be realized as improved thermal performance (lower heat loss/gain) and/or lower insulation thickness/volume at the same thermal performance. 

For a ½” diameter pipe with 2” of insulation, the same heat loss could be obtained with only ¼” thick insulation if the thermal conductivity is a factor of 4 lower.  For this example, the volume of insulation would be reduced by a factor of ~40 because of the squaring effect.  For a NanoPore™ vacuum insulation panel, the thermal conductivity is a factor of 10 smaller than fiberglass and 6-7 lower than plastic foams so dramatic decreases in the volume of insulation required can be achieved.