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For more information on NanoPore™ Thermal Insulation:
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Pipe and Pipeline Applications
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.
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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.
NanoPore™ based thermal insulation has been used in various pipe and tubing applications in order to take advantage of
these properties and provide significant system performance improvement, volume reduction, or both when compared to
conventional insulation systems.
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