Thinner thermal insulation

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2011/december/thinner-thermal-insulation.html

Thinner thermal insulation

Research News Dec 01, 2011

Insulation panels that are both thin and effective are expensive. At present these high-end products are built into energy-saving refrigerators. Innovative components and production techniques are now set to sink the costs – so that private home-builders can also benefit from the new technology.

…

The new film is easier to produce because it is made up of just two plastic films with three barrier layers: one aluminum-coated plastic film is coated with a micrometer-thin layer of ORMOCER® – an ISC invention – and then coated again with aluminum. ORMOCER®s contain an organic-inorganic hybrid silicon-oxygen polymer matrix, which makes the material exceptionally tight and stable. “That’s what makes it perfect for insulation panels,” says Noller. “Gases and liquids cannot easily penetrate the ORMOCER® layer.” The new insulation films can be fashioned in just five stages. First a film is coated, then the ORMOCER® layer applied, then coated a second time before the barrier film is applied to the sealing film. “The end product is better and cheaper than the insulation films already on the market,” claims Sextl.

Researchers have also optimized the production of the VIP insulation elements: at the Fraunhofer Application Center for Processing Machines and Packaging Technology AVV in Dresden they have developed an automated process for gently sealing the pyrogenic silica cores with the high-barrier film. The films and production process have now been patented. As soon as the new VIPs are being produced in large enough quantities, the price should fall. Sextl and Noller are convinced that the thin panels will then be of interest for the building industry.

Now researchers want to simplify the production process further and carry out long-term tests. Until now the panels had to last just twelve years – the average lifespan of a refrigerator. The building sector has higher expectations: a facade should last fifty years. Noller and his colleagues are now testing the stability of films and insulation elements in climate chambers, which simulate the seasonal changes in heat and frost and in humidity. The results should be available in just a few months.

[kristopher]

1. "organic-inorganic hybrid silicon-oxygen polymer matrix"

Try saying that 5 times fast.

K&R

[loudsue]

2. Watching the elements react to changes in heat, frost & humidity

as are found in the upper reaches of the southern states (extreme heat and pretty extreme cold, such as 100+degree heat and 90% humidity in summer to -6 degree cold in winter is a big spread) will be interesting to see. If this new material can stretch like that, it will be great!

K & R