Thermal insulation

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Mineral wool Insulation, 1600 dpi scan

Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e. the transfer of thermal energy
between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of
radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or
processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials.

Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of different temperature.

Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in which thermal conduction is reduced or
thermal radiation is reflected rather than absorbed by the lower-temperature body.

The insulating capability of a material is measured as this inverse of thermal conductivity (k).
Low thermal conductivity is equivalent to high insulating capability (Resistance value). In
thermal engineering, other important properties of insulating materials are product density (ρ)
and specific heat capacity (c).

Contents
[hide]

 1 Definition
o 1.1 Insulation of cylinders
 2 Applications
o 2.1 Clothing and natural animal insulation in birds and mammals
o 2.2 Buildings
o 2.3 Mechanical systems
o 2.4 Refrigeration
o 2.5 Spacecraft
o 2.6 Automotive
 3 Factors influencing performance
 4 Calculating requirements
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 Further reading
 8 External links

Definition[edit]
Main article: Thermal conductivity

Thermal conductivity k, measured in watt-per-meter per kelvin (W·m−1·K−1). That's because

the rate of heat transfer, measured in Watt, has been found to be (at least as approximation)
proportional to

 difference of temperature, measured in Kelvin;

 the area of the surface for heat to go through, measured in m²;
 the inverse of the thickness of the material, measured in meter;

So to get the power of heat loss, in watts, you multiply k by Kelvins and area, and divide by
thickness.

Thermal conductivity depends on the material, and for some of them, of the direction. It also
depends on temperature, pressure (for gas), etc. For comparison purpose, conductivity under
standard conditions is used.

For thermal conductivity values, see List of thermal conductivities.

Insulation is done by using low thermal conductivity material in high thickness. A smaller
area also means lower heat transfer, but area is usually fixed by the geometry of the object to
be insulated.

Multi-layer insulation is used where radiative loss dominates, or when the user is restricted in
volume and weight of the insulation (e.g. Emergency Blanket, radiant barrier)

Insulation of cylinders[edit]

Car exhausts usually require some form of heat barrier, especially high performance exhausts
where a ceramic coating is often applied

For insulated cylinders, a critical radius must be reached. Before the critical radius is reached
any added insulation increases heat transfer.[1] The convective thermal resistance is inversely
proportional to the surface area and therefore the radius of the cylinder, while the thermal
resistance of a cylindrical shell (the insulation layer) depends on the ratio between outside
and inside radius, not on the radius itself. If the outside radius of a cylinder is increased by
applying insulation, a fixed amount of conductive resistance (equal to 2*pi*k*L(Tin-
Tout)/ln(Rout/Rin)) is added. However, at the same time, the convective resistance is
reduced. This implies that adding insulation below a certain critical radius actually increases
the heat transfer. For insulated cylinders, the critical radius is given by the equation [2]

This equation shows that the critical radius depends only on the heat transfer coefficient and
the thermal conductivity of the insulation. If the radius of the insulated cylinder is smaller
than the critical radius for insulation, the addition of any amount of insulation will increase
heat transfer.