Self-Drying Insulation

The traditional approach for thermal insulation of cold piping is specifying either vapour-impermeable insulation material and/or a continuous vapour retarder on the warm side of the insulation to minimise vapour flow to the cold surface. In theory, these materials limit the rate of water vapour ingress to a level so low that the amount of condensed water is negligible. In practice, however, this approach requires that the vapour retarding system must be continuous at all the joints, elbows, valves and fittings present in real installation. The degree of success therefore depends heavily on both the installation and the degree of maintenance provided after installation. Even with the careful installation of vapour retarders, in conjunction with closed-cell insulation, a finite amount of water enters the system and cause the degradation of the insulation performance. An alternative approach is to utilize the wicking material to remove condensed water from the system while keeping the insulation material substantially dry. The document contains results of experimental testing, and should be especially useful to professionals in the Technical Insulation field.