In our recent blog post, Technical Update Part One: New Insulation Data on Thermal Conductivity and Why You Need It, we discussed the importance of getting all the relevant information you need to properly insulate your system to achieve accurate Safe-To-Touch temperatures; however pipe geometries are only one piece of the data you need to consider. The data also demand that you account for the phenomenon called “thermal shift.”
Thermal shift is the measured increase in thermal conductivity between the first and second thermal cycle of a given insulation. For example, we tested silica aerogel and InsulThin™ HT using the ASTM C335 test method. The test determined that while InsulThin demonstrated no thermal shift from cycle 1 to cycle 2, silica aerogel saw a dramatic increase in thermal conductivity (up to 20%) between the two cycles. Third-party testing verified this significant rise in thermal conductivity, seeing consistently different thermal conductivities between the first and second cycles as the insulation was exposed to a range of operating temperatures between 100-700°F.
Thermal shift is a new finding in the industrial insulation industry that can impact the long-term thermal performance and Safe-To-Touch temperatures of your insulation system. Since thermal shift demonstrates a potentially dangerous reduction in insulation performance, it is essential to factor in all the relevant data on thermal shift before making any insulation thickness calculations. In our Technical Update Part Two we reveal the third party thermal shift testing results to ensure you have the information you need on this important phenomenon.
Click on the link below to download the Technical Update on Thermal Shift.