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ASTM Selected Technical Papers
Thermal Insulation Performance
By
DL McElroy
DL McElroy
1
Metallurgist
,
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
,
Oak Ridge, Tenn. 37830
;
symposium cochairman and editor
.
Search for other works by this author on:
RP Tye
RP Tye
2
Director EMTL
,
Fiber Materials, Inc.
,
Biddeford, Me. 04005
;
symposium cochairman and editor
.
Search for other works by this author on:
ISBN-10:
0-8031-0794-3
ISBN:
978-0-8031-0794-6
No. of Pages:
578
Publisher:
ASTM International
Publication date:
1980

During recent years guides have been published to allow industries to choose pipe insulation that accounts optimally for rapid expected rises in fuel costs relative to insulation costs. The analysis in these guides is based on three simplifying assumptions: thermal conductivity of the insulation is assumed constant, the surface resistance is assumed constant, and thermal radiation is neglected (or included in the constant surface resistance). These assumptions can have the effect of introducing error in the insulation thickness chosen, possibly leading to choosing too little insulation.

A study was conducted to rederive the optimization equations accounting for variable heat-transfer parameters and to apply them to selected examples to determine the consequences of the simplifying assumptions. The major conclusions from the study were: 1. The errors introduced by assuming convection and radiation surface loss parameters constant are negligible. 2. The errors introduced by assuming constant insulation conductivity could be made negligible if the conductivity values were made to more closely represent correct values for the temperature range of the particular installation being analyzed.

1.
McAdams
,
W. H.
,
Heat Transmission
, 2nd ed.,
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
,
1942
.
2.
ECON-I: How to Determine Economic Thickness of Thermal Insulation
,
Thermal Insulation Manufacturers' Association (TIMA)
,
Mt. Kisco, N.Y.
,
1973
.
3.
Abramovitz
,
J. L.
and
Cordero
,
R.
,
Chemical Engineering
,
21
07
1975
, pp. 88-96.
4.
Economic Thickness for Industrial Insulation
,” NP-21361,
Federal Energy Administration
,
Washington D.C.
,
1976
.
5.
Economic Thickness for Industrial Insulation
,” FEA/D75/712, Conservation Paper No. 46,
Federal Energy Administration
,
Washington, D.C.
,
08
1976
.
6.
Simmons
,
L. D.
,
Journal of Heat Transfer
 0022-1481, Vol.
98
, Series C, No.
1
,
02
1976
, pp. 150-152.
7.
Simmons
,
L. D.
and
Beckman
,
J. W.
, “
Optimum Economic Thickness of Pipe Insulation Accounting for Variable Heat Transfer Parameters
,” ORNL/Sub-7499/1,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
,
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
,
08
1978
.
8.
Manufacturer's product literature
, “
Pabco High Temperature Insulation Systems
,”
Pabco Insulation Division, Fibreboard Corp.
,
San Francisco, Calif.
, undated.
9.
Manufacturer's product literature
, “
Insulation Systems; Thermal/Acoustical Insulation Products
,”
Johns-Manville Corp.
,
Denver, Colo.
,
10
1977
.
10.
Jury
,
S. H.
,
McElroy
,
D. L.
, and
Moore
,
J. P.
in
Thermal Transmission Measurements of Insulation
, ASTM STP 660,
Tye
R. P.
, Ed.,
American Society for Testing and Materials
,
1978
, pp. 310-326.
11.
Manufacturer's product literature
, “
Mechanical Insulation Systems
,”
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.
,
Toledo, Ohio
,
1977
.
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