Types Of Insulation Materials Research Articles

Sensitivity analysis of design variables in life-cycle environmental impacts of buildings

Buildings are responsible for a large portion of global energy consumption and carbon emissions. Improvements in building design contribute to reducing environmental impacts of buildings. In this context, a crucial issue is to understand which design variables should be considered while which variables could be negligible. The objective of this study is to develop a framework for assessing the influence of various design variables throughout the design process in the environmental impacts of a building over its life cycle. This methodological framework combined building information modelling and life cycle assessment tools and a global sensitivity analysis using the Morris elementary effects method. A residential building was applied to demonstrate the developed framework. The influence of six design variables in early design stages (including, floor area, aspect ratio, floor height, orientation, window-to-wall ratio and number of floors), nine variables in detailed design stages (including, structure type of external and internal walls, type of insulation material for external and internal walls, insulation material for floors, waterproofing and insulation material for roof, type of window frame, and glazing type), and four variables in construction design stages (including, type of finishing for external walls, internal walls and floors, and roof tiles) are examined. Three environmental impact criteria (including, embodied, operational, and life-cycle environmental impacts) of a building are considered. The results identified the most influential variables throughout the design process, highlighting aspect ratio in early design stage, the structure and insulation materials for walls in detailed design stages, and the roof title in construction design stages. The outcomes of this research can assist in understanding the importance of design variables in each design stage throughout the design process of a building.

Thermal and Structural Behaviour of Sandwiched Reinforced Cement Concrete Wall Panels

The energy efficiency of a building predominantly depends on the temperature gradient across the wall. The use of Sandwiched Concrete Panels (SCP) to achieve energy efficiency inside buildings is gaining importance all over the world. This study focuses on comparing the temperature gradient across sandwich concrete wall panels made of two different insulation materials viz. Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) with two different sizes of steel (8 mm and 10 mm dia.) used as reinforcement and shear connectors. Two different concrete grades viz. M25 and M40 were studied. The thickness of concrete wythes on both sides of the SCP and the inner insulation material (XPS and EPS) were varied to understand their effect on thermal insulation. The external surface of the samples was subjected to an elevated temperature of 75 °C for 24 hours continuously and the temperature measurements across the SCP were recorded. This was done by simulating the real-time temperature effect using an indigenously developed oven, designed and fabricated to fit the SCP sample size which comprises an electronic thermostat and temperature sensor unit arrangement. Additionally, a one-dimensional finite element analysis was carried out to predict the theoretical interface temperature and inner surface temperature of the SCP samples with necessary assumptions. Both the experimental and FEA temperature values corroborated well. Further, all the samples were subjected to compression and flexural testing to evaluate their structural properties. Influence of type of insulation material used viz. XPS and EPS, size of steel reinforcement used viz. 8 mm and 10 mm dia. were found to be not that significant in terms of both thermal and structural behavior.

The effects of surfactants on the performance of polymer-based microwave-induced in situ amorphization

Microwave-induced in situ amorphization is a novel technology for preparing amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) to address the challenges of their long-term physical stability and downstream processing. To date, only few types of dielectric materials have been reported for microwave-induced in situ amorphization, which restricted the extensive research of this technology. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and mechanisms of utilizing the non-ionic surfactants, i.e. Kollisolv P124, Kolliphor RH40, D-ɑ-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (TPGS), Tween (T) 60 (T60), T65, T80 and T85, as plasticizers to facilitate microwave-induced in situ amorphization. It was found that the successful application of surfactants could be related with their low Tm, low Mw and high HLB. Kolliphor RH40 was selected as a typical surfactant due to its excellent dielectric heating ability, plasticizing effect and solubilizing effect when facilitating amorphization. Then, the dissolution-mediated in situ amorphization mechanism was investigated and intuitively demonstrated. For the most promising formulation, i.e. microwaved systems with Korlliphor RH40 at 1.5 (w/w) plasticizer/polymer ratio, a complete and fast in vitro dissolution was observed relative to the untreated systems. In conclusion, non-ionic surfactants had the potential to facilitate microwave-induced in situ amorphization, which provided a new direction in the formulation designation for microwave-able systems.

Impact of insulation materials and wall types of reference buildings on building energy efficiency with three methods in Çorum city

AbstractThe improvement of energy efficiency in buildings is one of the most important factors of the energy policy of Turkey owing to its energy import, especially of natural gas. Çorum city, one of the colder cities of Turkey that uses a high amount of natural gas as fuel for heating, was selected to demonstrate the reduction in energy loss and carbon dioxide emissions of buildings and to contribute to the insulation sector in the Çorum industry. Therefore, two different methods, namely, the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree‐days, are applied in cost‐optimal methodology, using four types of traditional insulation materials, namely, standard expanded polystyrene, neopor (graphite‐added expanded polystyrene), extruded polystyrene, and stone wool, and two state‐of‐the‐art insulation materials, aerogel and vacuum insulation panels in two types of reference buildings comprising hollow brick and pumice stone walls. As a consequence of application of the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree‐days methods in the cost optimal methodology of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive with the utilization of the optimum insulation thicknesses of six types of insulation materials calculated from both the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree‐days methods at four different types of windows and one top side measure, a new methodology was developed. Results obtained from three methodologies are compared based on insulation materials and wall types.

Comparative study of three insulation materials installed on type C independent tank for offshore LNG transportation

The traditional choice of insulation material for offshore LNG transportation with type C independent tank was polyurethane foam (PUF). However, aiming to further cut down the insulation cost and spare additional arrangement space, the requirement of searching for the alternative materials still exists. Polyisocyanurate board (PIRB) and silica aerogel blanket (SAB) are chosen as candidates in this study since these two materials have been proved to be available in other fields. Despites their advantages, the seams and joints due to the specific installation techniques for PIRB and SAB could be the causes of potential defects when transporting cryogenic liquid. In this paper, the comparative study of three materials associated with their specific installation techniques was conducted to discuss if PIRB and SAB are available for offshore LNG transportation. Therein, the insulation performances were investigated through the evaporation experiment of LN2 with a 1.5 m3 type C experimental tank. The equivalent conductive model was adopted in the numerical analysis with finite element method (FEM) to determine the temperature field of insulation and the absorbed heat from the LN2 evaporation. It is proved that three types of insulation materials are well behaved and available for transporting cryogenic liquid. In respect of the thermal resistance, the ranking of three types of insulation materials is: SAB, SPF and PIRB. Higher thermal resistance of insulation leads to thinner thickness and additional arrangement space in the cargo hold, and more ship construction cost can be cut down due to the possible scaling down of ship dimensions. However, from the perspective of insulation material cost, the cost reduction due to the insulation thickness decrease is not significant as the tank continually scales up, and it is more practical to apply SPF or PIRB on a full-scale type C independent tank.

Characterization of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation on Coaxial Cables

This research work is about the propagation of electromagnetic waves on coaxial cables such that its resistive losses are minimized, and signal quality is improved. The resistive loss of a coaxial cable is caused by several things; impedance of the conductor, and the type of dielectric material used and the skin effect and causes the signal to be attenuated. In this research, various comparison was made on different coaxial cables in other to test their resistivity per length of the conductor and measure the losses per meter of the coaxial cables. The various properties of the conductor, the impedance, capacitance, and the velocity of propagations was taken into consideration. Measurements were carried out to derive our data, and MATLAB was used in analyzing the results and the behaviour of the LMR series, RG8, RG6A, Davis RF, and CQ110 coaxial cables. Based on the findings, it is concluded that for a better and improved signal quality and to reduce resistive losses in coaxial cables, the characteristic impedance of the cable should be 80 ohms as this will reduce the coaxial cable resistive losses.

A Comparative Performance Analysis of Different Insulation Materials Installed in a Residential Building of a Cold Region in Pakistan

Globally, the building sector consumes approximately 60% of the total energy usage, while the energy consumption of residential buildings lies between 20% to 40%. The majority of this energy is operational energy, which comes mainly from the heating and cooling of houses. Innovative and cost-effective insulation materials have the potential to reduce the operational energy requirements and can therefore make the buildings more energy efficient. In this study, three commonly available insulation materials were experimentally evaluated for a case study of residential buildings, located in a cold region of Pakistan. Glass wool, extruded polystyrene, and polyethylene were used, as insulation materials, for monitoring the case study building performance. Thermal data were collected for 21 days in the year 2019 using a Testo Saveries System and were then used for analyzing the thermal performance of each of the three types of insulation materials. Other relevant data including the cost of insulation materials, thickness, ease of application, design life, and fire resistance of the selected insulation materials were obtained for broader (based on the scorecard) analysis based on a multi-weighted decision model. It was concluded that Polyethylene was the most economical insulation material amongst the others, which also showed the best thermal performance. Polyethylene was also found to be the best insulation material for the case study building based on a multi-weighted decision model and, hence, is recommended for application in buildings around cold regions of Pakistan.

Investigate the Effect of Dielectric Properties on Microwave Absorption of Pyramidal Microwave Absorber

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of various dielectric properties material’s effects on broadband pyramidal microwave absorbers (PMA). The Computer Simulation Technology (CST) studio software simulates and analyzes the PMA over 0.7 GHz to 30 GHz frequency range. To achieve the best reflectivity performance of the PMA, different types of dielectric materials and the thickness of the base layers were analyzed and investigated. The average of four types of sample materials studied, the reflectivity level is between -50 dB and -27 dB for the desired range of frequency, 0.7 GHz to 30 GHz. The sample-4 material has a dielectric constant of 3.83, and a loss tangent of 1.52 has the best microwave absorption, absorbing microwaves above -48 dB over the frequency range of 0.7 GHz to 30 GHz. Because of its microwave absorption capability, sample-4 could be used in a microwave pyramidal absorber.

Toxicity characteristics and fire retardant performance of commercially manufactured organic insulation materials for building applications

Traditionally, insulation materials have been developed to prevent heat loss or gain in buildings. Polymer compounds such as polyurethane, polystyrene, and polyethylene have been used to improve the performance of insulation materials during the modern industrialization process. However, because most insulating materials based on complex organic chemicals are combustible, they are susceptible to fire, and there are limitations such as the emission of harmful chemicals. The reason for the high number of casualties caused by insulation materials in building fires is that insulation materials based on complex chemical substances generate a large number of toxic gases, which causes suffocation. Therefore, the fire resistance performance of five types of insulation materials used in actual construction sites was evaluated in this study. Based on the total heat release (THR) and heat release rate (HRR), phenolic foam (PF) was the insulation material that satisfied the criteria of the non-combustible grade as a result of the flame-retardant performance evaluation. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to perform a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of gaseous hazardous substances generated during the combustion of insulating materials by ISO 19702. The Fractional effective dose (FED) value was derived using the results of the analyses of eight gases by ISO 13344.

Effect of different building façade systems on thermal comfort and urban heat island phenomenon: An experimental analysis

This study experimentally investigates the effect of different façades systems on thermal comfort and urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon by using experimental tools. Outdoor field measurements are conducted for brick, concrete, low-E glass, aluminium composite panel (ACP), and clear glass to observe the effect of morning solar exposure on the east-west façade surface temperatures. Two different types of insulation materials, namely newspaper and corn husk mat, are also manufactured and considered. Then, laboratory experiments are performed with 1 m × 1 m panel under two 1000 W halogen lamps by measuring air, surface and material temperatures using a thermocouples data-logger with a recording interval of 5 min and IR thermovision for visual confirming. The lamps simulate solar exposure during morning (8.00 a.m.–12.00 p.m.). It is noted that the brick wall stores heat during solar exposure, and then emits that heat to indoor and outdoor environments. Additional ACP to the brick wall reduces indoor air temperature significantly whereas direct impact on the outdoor temperature should also be accounted to avoid UHI. Besides, insulation material is found to be only beneficial during heating period in terms of reducing the indoor air temperature, however it slightly incremented the outdoor air temperature. This study shows how different façade systems of buildings significantly affect both the indoor and outdoor environments. It is revealed that, in the design process, the indoor air temperature should be considered for thermal comfort while the outdoor air temperature should be considered for UHI phenomenon.

Aging Performance of Low-Density Polyethylene/Silicone Rubber Blends Insulators Under Contaminated Conditions

Insulation materials are a vital part of the electrical system in all kinds of high voltage (HV) Transmission lines. Environmental stresses affect the performance of all types of insulation materials over time. Dielectric breakdown strength (DBS), Hydrophobicity, Leakage current, internal partial discharge and volume resistivity are all three degraded parameters in the service environment. The materials stand best in outdoor insulation, with the lowest partial discharge, highest breakdown strength, high hydrophobic, Lowest Leakage current, and highest volume resistivity. Enhancement of these parameters is a potential avenue for many researchers over the period. In this study, low-density polyethene (LDPE) under different nanofillers, including SiO2, TiO2, TiO2@SiO2, with different weight percentages, are used. This study investigates the behaviour of dielectric breakdown strength (DBS), Hydrophobicity and Leakage Current (LC) for 1000h test under contaminated conditions such as High voltage, heat, ultraviolet (UV) radiations, salt fog, humidity, and acid rain.

Thickness optimization of exterior wall insulation for different climatic regions in Morocco

The objective of this work is to analyze the effect of climate on the economic and environmental parameters of a thermal insulation material based on recycled cardboard reinforced with date palm fibers. In addition, a comparative study between the studied material and three conventional thermal insulating materials was carried out. Based on the degree-day concept, the annual heating and cooling transmission loads were determined for six Moroccan climate zones. Then, by using a life cycle analysis, the optimal insulation thicknesses, energy savings and payback periods have been determined. The results obtained in this study show that the optimal insulation thicknesses increase with the increase in the total number of heating and cooling degree-days, which results in an increase in cost savings and a reduction in the payback period. Based on the climate of the regions studied and the type of insulation material, the optimal thickness value of the insulation materials studied ranges from 0.02 to 0.17 m. In addition, the savings are between 53.78 and 65.88 $/m2 and the payback period is between 1.28 and 2.94 years.

Effect of waste B4C addition on high closed-pore porosity foamed ceramics

In this study, high-temperature foaming was used to successfully prepare foamed ceramics with high closed-pore porosity and high strength using granite waste as the main raw material, SiC as the foaming agent, and B4C waste as the flux. The effects of the amount of B4C waste on the microstructure and physical properties of foamed ceramics were thoroughly investigated. Experimental results showed that under optimal preparation parameters, foamed ceramic has a low bulk density of 0.48 g/cm3, available compressive strength of 4.97 MPa, the thermal conductivity of 0.18 W/(m·K), and high closed-pore porosity of 74.2%. The addition of a trace amount of B4C waste can significantly reduce firing temperature and energy consumption. Overall, these results indicated that the preparation of foamed ceramics is a promising strategy for recycling industrial waste into new types of insulation materials.

Microstructure and Electrical Properties of Fluorene Polyester Based Nanocomposite Dielectrics

As a new type of dielectric material, the low dielectric constant and corona resistance life of fluorene polyester (FPE) restricts the range of its applications. In order to simultaneously achieve a high dielectric constant and the long corona aging lifetime of FPE, SiO2 nanoparticles were chosen as additive to prepare FPE-based composite films. The microstructure of the composite film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The dielectric performances of the composites, including the dielectric constant, breakdown strength and corona resistance lifetime, were investigated. The results show that the introduced SiO2 does not destroy the structure of the FPE molecular chain and that it increases the thickness of the filler-matrix interface. The dielectric constant of SiO2/FPE composites increased from 3.54 to 7.30 at 1 Hz. Importantly, the corona resistance lifetime increased by about 12 times compared with the pure FPE matrix. In brief, this work shows what possibilities there might be when considering the potential applications of high-strength insulating materials.

RESEARCH OF PROCESSES OF FORMATION OF STRUCTURE OF COMPOSITE THERMAL INSULATION MATERIALS ON THE BASIS OF LIQUID GLASS BTAINED WITH THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGIES

Improving the efficiency of energy use is one of the main tasks in the chemical industry not only in Ukraine but also around the world, which is due to the steady rise in energy prices. In this regard, an effective way to save energy is the thermal modernization of buildings, industrial equipment and communications with thermal insulation materials. It should be noted that the share of domestic materials in the Ukrainian market is not more than 30 %. Therefore, the creation of new types of insulation materials is a very important task. This material is a heat–insulating material based on liquid glass, created with the involvement of microwave radiation as an alternative to traditional convective thermal heating. The technology of production of heat–insulating materials on the basis of liquid glass by hot foaming involves obtaining the material in the form of granules, not plates, due to the difficulty of uniform heating of the inner layers of large samples. The problem of large–scale production of high–quality thermal insulation materials based on liquid glass in plate form is not solved due to poor heating of the inner layers of the plate due to the low thermal conductivity of the swollen outer layers. That is why the production of composite thermal insulation materials based on granular filler and liquid glass binder is proposed to be carried out under the action of microwave radiation. Thermal insulation properties of expanded materials are directly determined by their macrostructure. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine changes in the structure of the material from the type and amount of ingredients used in the liquid glass composition. On the basis of the conducted researches it is shown that the materials with use as a filler of zinc oxide and as a gas–forming agent of hydrogen peroxide have the most ordered structure. It is established that their use in the amount of 9–10 wt.h. provides a rate of gas evolution and growth of pore centers, which is comparable to the process of curing composition, which allows to obtain materials with a homogeneous, fine and closed–porous structure, which provides high insulating properties with a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.05–0.055 W / m · K, which meets the requirements for thermal insulation materials.

Hazard evaluation of indoor environment based on long-term pollutant emission characteristics of building insulation materials: An empirical study

Insulation materials are essential components in construction, and their main objective is to increase the efficiency of thermal energy by minimizing internal and external thermal exchange. Accordingly, research and development studies are being actively conducted to increase the thermal resistance of insulation materials, and high-performance insulation materials that use organic chemicals have been developed after industrialization. However, thermal insulation comprising chemicals poses a potential risk of pollutant emissions and can cause health problems. In this study, five types of insulation materials and the contaminants generated from the building materials used in insulation construction were quantitatively analyzed. In addition, an empirical study on the discharge of pollutants was conducted using a test bed, and the effects of the pollutants discharged from the insulation material on the indoor environment were examined by analyzing the pollutant concentration for 90 days. In addition, we analyzed the effect of an insulation material on an indoor environment through the standard specifications. Moreover, the necessity of legal management of the emission of contaminants from insulation materials was proposed based on the empirical research results.

Industrial pipe acoustic treatments investigation per ISO 15665

Reducing noise levels in industrial environments are critical as exposure to high noise levels has been related to health issues like fatigue and stress that can compromise safety of workers. Many types of acoustic products can be applied to various noise emitting equipments in an effort to reduce the noise levels in industrial spaces. Jacketed pipe insulation is one such product applied across many industries for controlling pipe emitted noise emission. As with most products, standards for evaluating performance have been created to validate performance claims by manufacturer’s. For jacketed pipe insulation ISO 15665, an international standard defining a testing process for measurement of the acoustical performance of installed and jacketed pipe insulation systems, is the accepted testing method. The measurement process provides for the determination of the insertion loss of jacketed insulation applied to a pipe. A recently conducted study to identify the performance of over 30 variations of jacketed pipe insulation, including combinations of two types of insulation material, is presented herein.

Comparison of thermal insulation performance of vacuum insulation panels with EPS protection layers measured with different methods

For reducing the energy use of buildings, the application of insulation materials can be a possible solution to improve energy efficiency. However, with the continuously tightening regulations, thicker and thicker insulations should be used (e.g., up to 20–25 cm in Hungary and about 40–50 cm in the Nordic countries) to fulfil the directives. In the past decades, developmental research started to focus on both decreasing the thickness and decreasing the thermal conductivity of materials parallels. With this research direction, the investigations of the new type of insulation materials took place. The use of materials having thermal conductivity with less than 0.020 W/mK spread over. These materials are the so-called super insulation materials. Besides Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs), aerogel-based materials belong to this group, too. This paper will present laboratory tests executed on two altered types of protected Vacuum Insulation Panels: a one side and a 2 side protected VIP, also called Vacuum Insulation Sandwich (VIS). The first one, type “A” contains 20 mm thick laminated fumed silica, covered with 10 mm thick expanded polystyrene on one side, while type “B” was the one where the 10 mm thick laminated fumed silica core was packed between two 10 mm thick EPS slabs. Firstly, thermal insulation performance was investigated by the so-called guarded hot-box method for U-value, where the samples were placed on a solid brick wall. Furthermore, the thermal insulation performance of protected VIPs was also tested with Hukseflux heat flux plates. To reveal the applicability limits caused by the thermal bridges infrared thermography images (IR) were taken, too. From the images and the measurement results, a theory was formed regarding the heat flow directions inside the encapsulated panels. The current article emphasizes the equivalent thermal conductivity for the assessment of the thermal protection performance of vacuum insulation panels. The paper states that by using VIPs at least, 70% reduction can be reached in the U-value compared to the value of the solid brick wall. Moreover, the paper points out that the use of EPS protection layer on both sides of the VIP has a promising effect by reducing the thermal bridges. Furthermore, the VIP protected with EPS slabs on both sides results in less equivalent thermal conductivity.

Facade Insulation from Wood-Fiber Boards in The Burning Process

The article focuses on the study of wood-fiber insulation intended for facade insulation of buildings, and on monitoring the properties of selected insulation materials under thermal load. Two types of insulation materials were selected - plain fiberboard, used as an underlay for plasters, and fiberboard with bitumen, which is used mainly for ventilated facades. The selected material and its preparation for the test itself are described in the methods. The thermal analysis used and its measurement principle are further defined. The main objective was to evaluate the recorded measurements based on three curves - the TG, DTG, and DSC curves. The curves are determinative when examining the application of the thermal load and subsequent material comparison. The outputs from the measurements are presented in the form of charts and tables. By means of comparing the results, the Steico Black insulating material seems to be safer than Steico Protect.

Drilling of different materials through microwave radiations: A review

Microwaves are the electromagnetic radiation with frequency ranging between 300 MHz and 300 GHz, with the wavelengths ranging from about 1 m to 1 mm. Microwave drilling is a machining process in which electromagnetic radiation is concentrated at 2.45 GHz by using a concentrator into a small region. In this review paper, the use of microwave radiations for drilling metals and non-metals is studied in brief and parameters, such as immersion depth, concentrator material, type of dielectric material, susceptor powder and specimen. A characterization of drilling is studied namely Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Micro tensile test, impact test, 3-point bending test, Fractography and porosity.