Insulating Sheet Assembly Thermal Bridge Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional thermal-acoustic sheet assemblies for exhaust ducts of rotary machines and boilers suffer from heat conduction through bolts and support plates, forming thermal bridges that reduce the effectiveness of insulation in suppressing heat and acoustic noise.
Innovation Solution
The thermal acoustic insulating sheet assembly replaces conventional bolts and support plates with thermally insulating bars and brackets, using insulated washers and non-conductive layers to prevent heat conduction, featuring a metal internal sheet, an external sheet with insulation in between, and bars secured to the internal sheet extending through the insulation, connected to brackets on the external sheet via insulating fasteners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional bolts and support plates are used to assemble the sheet assembly, then structural integrity and ease of assembly are improved, but heat conduction increases forming thermal bridges that reduce insulation effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary insulating layer between the metal support plate and the insulation material. This intermediary layer acts as a thermal break, preventing direct heat conduction from the metal support plate through the insulation to the external sheet, thereby reducing thermal bridge effects while maintaining structural support functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The support assembly uses composite construction combining metal support plates with thermally insulating materials. The support plate itself is复合ed with an insulating layer, creating a composite structure that provides both mechanical strength and thermal insulation properties, reducing heat transfer while maintaining structural integrity.
2Ease of manufacture
If metal support plates and bolts are used, then ease of manufacture and structural support are improved, but thermal insulation effectiveness deteriorates due to heat conduction paths
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating layer serves as a mediator between the metal support plate and the insulation material, maintaining the simplicity of metal component assembly while blocking heat conduction paths. This allows conventional metal fastening methods to be used without compromising thermal insulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulating layer is applied locally at the critical heat conduction points where support plates contact the insulation material. This localized insulation approach maintains ease of manufacture by only modifying specific areas rather than the entire assembly, while effectively blocking thermal bridges.
3Loss of energy
If thicker insulation layers are used to reduce heat transfer, then thermal insulation effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the thermal bridge problem from the overall insulation system by addressing it at the specific location of support plate contacts. Instead of increasing the entire insulation thickness, the solution focuses on eliminating heat conduction paths at critical points, simplifying the overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulating layer is applied locally at support plate interfaces rather than uniformly throughout the entire insulation structure. This localized approach reduces material usage and assembly complexity compared to uniformly thickening the insulation, while effectively reducing heat transfer at the most critical thermal bridge locations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly reduces heat transfer by 70 to 90% compared to conventional assemblies, effectively suppressing both heat and acoustic noise while maintaining structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
an intermediate layer (or layers) of insulation between the internal and external sheets. Insulation in the walls suppresses the transmission of heat and acoustic noise from the hot gases to the environment surrounding the exhaust duct.
Implementation Method 2
The bolts and support plates tend to conduct heat through the sheet assembly. Heat is conducted because the bolts and support plates form a metal path through the intermediate layer. The metal material of the bolts and support plates conducts heat to a much greater extent than does the insulation of the intermediate layer.
Implementation Method 3
an insulating washer preventing heat conduction between the bracket and the bar
Data Source
AI summary
A thermal acoustic insulation structure including: a metal internal sheet having an exposed surface configured to be exposed to a hot gas, an external sheet and an insulation sandwiched between the internal and external sheets; a bar secured to the metal internal sheet and extending through at least a portion of the insulation; a bracket connected to the external sheet or to a support plate extending from the external sheet, wherein the bracket includes an opening configured to receive an end of the bar; a fastener securing the end of the bar to the bracket, and an insulating washer separating the bracket from the bar and the fastener.