{"id":11401,"date":"2018-07-01T20:27:32","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T20:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/?post_type=articles&p=11401"},"modified":"2019-11-08T22:02:59","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T22:02:59","slug":"contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractor’s View: Insufficient Space Leads to Insulation Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Problem<\/h2>\n

My company, Insulating Services, Inc., a NIA Contractor member since 1990, was contacted by a client in the Southeast who was requesting an evaluation of their existing indoor insulation system due to the larger than desired process temperature drop their system was experiencing.\u00a0The client company reconditions catalyst beds that are used for emission control at power plants and various other industrial facilities.\u00a0Part of their proprietary process for reconditioning these catalyst beds requires that the temperature drop in their reactor doesn\u2019t exceed 4\u00b0C.\u00a0For their application, the larger the temperature drop, the lower the quality and consequent longevity of the reconditioned catalyst bed they sell to their customers.\u00a0Their concern was that they could potentially lose business if their customers noticed that the reconditioned catalyst beds had an appreciable decrease in life span and would require more frequent reconditioning, causing higher costs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Upon visiting the job site, we found that the temperature drop they were measuring across their reactor was ~10\u00b0C\u2014more than double the maximum temperature drop of 4\u00b0C. The existing insulation was a 2-layer system with the first layer comprising of (2\u201d) ceramic fiber and the second layer being (3\u201d) of mineral wool insulation. There was only 5 inches of space available for the insulation and unfortunately, the current thickness of insulation could not maintain the desired temperature.<\/p>\n

After we ran some calculations based on the process data provided, it was determined that the insulation thickness would need to be ~10\u201d in order to ensure that the temperature drop across the reactor didn\u2019t exceed 4\u00b0C.\u00a0 The problem, however, was the physical lack of space necessary to increase the insulation thickness to 10\u201d.\u00a0Our client would need to make tremendous changes to their facility in order to make room for the thicker insulation, which was prohibitive both from a cost and timing standpoint. This is an example of how improper design can lead to improper insulation, which ultimately affects the profitability of the entire operation.<\/p>\n

The Proposed Solution<\/h2>\n

We did find a solution as product innovations have led to materials on the market that offer the same performance at a lower thickness.\u00a0We used the 10\u201d required thickness needed to satisfy the desired 4\u00b0C temperature drop and calculated the equivalent thickness of an alternate material that would offer the equivalent performance at a lower thickness.\u00a0We recommended a specific aerogel insulation that had approximately half the thermal conductivity of the existing insulation system at the operating temperature of 500\u00b0C.\u00a0Specifically, we were able to reduce the thickness from 10\u201d to 4.8\u201d by recommending the aerogel material.\u00a0The total installed cost of this option would be approximately 23% higher than the required 10\u201d thickness of the existing insulation, but in this situation this is a moot consideration since there wasn\u2019t enough space to increase the existing insulation thickness to 10\u201d.<\/p>\n

In summary, there are 2 problems to solve in this situation.\u00a0First, the existing insulation system was not designed to limit the temperature drop to the desired threshold of 4\u00b0C.\u00a0Second, space constraints did not allow for the appropriate thickness to achieve the desired goal. Our recommendation of using a different product that would provide appropriate performance at a lower thickness solved both problems in this case.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the client will need to decide whether to accept the added cost of installing the aerogel insulation in exchange for its potential benefits.\u00a0Of course, as with most properly designed systems, insulating the system correctly will save energy over the life of the system, paying for the insulation. Changing the footprint of the facility to accommodate the 10\u201d of required thickness for the lower-cost mineral wool would incur exorbitant costs. While typically, \u201cvalue engineering\u201d implies a lower upfront cost, in cases like this one, clients may choose a higher up-front cost as the best alternative and in exchange for continued ongoing successful operations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Copyright Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was published in the July 2018 issue of Insulation Outlook magazine. Copyright\u00a0\u00a9 2018 National Insulation Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this website and Insulation Outlook magazine may not be reproduced in any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher and NIA. Any unauthorized\u00a0duplication is strictly prohibited and would violate NIA\u2019s copyright and may violate other copyright agreements that NIA has with authors and partners. Contact publisher@insulation.org<\/a> to reprint or reproduce this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Problem My company, Insulating Services, Inc., a NIA Contractor member since 1990, was contacted by a client in the Southeast who was requesting an evaluation of their existing indoor insulation system due to the larger than desired process temperature drop their system was experiencing.\u00a0The client company reconditions catalyst beds that are used for emission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[435],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[37,38,298,294,24,25,301,22,436],"class_list":["post-11401","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-market-research","category-material-selection","category-installation","category-training","category-contracting","category-contractordistributor-services","category-design","category-commercialinstitutional","category-july-2018","author-john-shinas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nContractor's View: Insufficient Space Leads to Insulation Update - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contractor's View: Insufficient Space Leads to Insulation Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Problem My company, Insulating Services, Inc., a NIA Contractor member since 1990, was contacted by a client in the Southeast who was requesting an evaluation of their existing indoor insulation system due to the larger than desired process temperature drop their system was experiencing.\u00a0The client company reconditions catalyst beds that are used for emission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insulation Outlook Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T22:02:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/08\/IO180703_01-240x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/contractors-view-insufficient-space-leads-to-insulation-update\/\",\"name\":\"Contractor's View: Insufficient Space Leads to Insulation Update - 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