Abstract
The authors develop slim and light-weight vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) by producing vacuum layers with spacers and plastic plates. The developed VIPs have the advantages of a low cost and easy installation, thus facilitating retrofitting insulation of existing buildings. In addition, one of the developed VIPs is slim and translucent so it can be easily used for windows in an internal installation. In this paper, the authors first propose a vacuum layer type slim translucent VIP and focus on a reasonable design method. Next, the authors introduce the design process in which the structural design is obtained with element mechanical analysis and a three-dimensional analysis is conducted for the VIP element. In the study, a heat transfer model is used to predict the insulation performance through finite element analysis (FEA). Subsequently, the authors perform an experiment to measure the thermal conductivity in a guarded hot plate apparatus to validate the performance prediction. Finally, case studies are performed to confirm how the different design conditions affect the insulation performance. The optimum design of the vacuum layer type slim and translucent VIP will have a sufficient structural strength to hold and maintain the vacuum layer. The thermal conductivity is approximately 0.007 W / ( m · K ) , which can effectively improve the insulation performance in applications.
Highlights
Environmental problems and energy exhaustion have become major global issues
Conductivity in Case 1 is higher than that in the standard case owing to the higher thermal emissivity. It seems that thermal conductivity can be improved further by an additional low-e film set; considering the cost of components and improvement of insulation performance, only one low-e film is considering the cost of components and improvement of insulation performance, only one low-e film enough
In Cases 3 and 5, thermal conductivity of the vacuum layer decreases with the reduction in pressure
Summary
Environmental problems and energy exhaustion have become major global issues. The annual energy consumption has been increasing every year, and the amount of environmental pollution is accelerating. Numerous energy-saving technologies for building applications are installed in new buildings These technologies are useless if installed in existing buildings in which the thermal insulation performance, in particular, is poor. Most models of conventional VIPs include a core material with a low-thermal conductivity coating of a gas barrier film (in particular, aluminum foil), and they are always used in refrigerators and thermoses. This proposal will have a good resistance to degradation from the weather effect due to the internal installation This VIP model consisted of two plates with a low-e film coating achieved using a gas barrier film, while the vacuum layer was supported by plastic spacers.
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