Segmented Insulative Device for Chilled Pipe Vapor Barrier
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing insulation devices for pipe components are often inflexible, costly, and require multiple shapes and sizes for different components, leading to increased costs and inefficiencies in thermal and water vapor management, especially in industrial and commercial settings where maintenance access is necessary.
Innovation Solution
A segmented insulative device kit that includes a large rectangular sheet of segmented insulation, reusable fastening tape, and a cutting mechanism, allowing on-site customization and quick installation, with internal stitching that does not compromise low permeance characteristics, enabling easy access and reusability across various pipe components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional removable insulation blankets (clamshells) are used, then maintenance access is enabled, but the devices are difficult to re-attach by unskilled personnel and require skilled installers
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation device is divided into two mirror-image halves that can be separately installed and removed. Each half contains integrated fastening elements that simplify the re-attachment process, allowing unskilled personnel to easily reinstall the insulation by simply connecting the pre-configured fastening mechanisms without requiring specialized insulation installation skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulation device incorporates self-contained fastening mechanisms with wire lacing and tensioning elements that automatically maintain proper tension and alignment when re-attached. The design includes features such as pre-positioned fastening points and self-adjusting tensioners that enable the device to self-correct during installation, eliminating the need for skilled installer intervention.
2Reliability
If wire lacing is used for fastening, then secure attachment is achieved, but the wire lacing must be cut and discarded during removal, preventing reuse
Solution Approach 1:
The design separates the sacrificial element (wire lacing) from the reusable components (insulation blanket and fastening hardware). The wire lacing is intentionally designed to be cut and discarded during removal, while the main insulation device remains intact and fully reusable. This selective discarding approach maintains secure attachment during use while enabling complete reuse of the valuable insulation components.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening function is extracted into separate, replaceable wire lacing elements that can be independently removed and discarded, while the main insulation device retains its structural integrity and fastening hardware for reuse. The wire lacing serves as a consumable fastening medium that is easily separated from the reusable insulation blanket.
3Reliability
If multiple specialized insulation devices are used for different pipe components, then specific component coverage is achieved, but costs increase and inefficiencies occur
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation device is designed as a universal solution that can be adapted to cover various pipe components including valves, flanges, and fittings. The mirror-image half design allows the same basic device configuration to be applied to different component types by adjusting the positioning and orientation of the halves, eliminating the need for multiple specialized insulation devices for different pipe components.
4Ease of operation
If insulation devices are designed for frequent access components, then maintenance accessibility is improved, but thermal and water vapor transfer control is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation device is segmented into two halves that can be quickly removed for maintenance access and then re-attached to restore thermal and vapor barriers. The segmentation allows rapid access to components requiring maintenance while maintaining the insulative envelope when closed, minimizing thermal energy loss and water vapor transfer during both operational and maintenance states.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulation device utilizes composite material construction with multiple layers including vapor barriers and thermal insulation materials. This composite structure provides effective thermal and water vapor transfer control while allowing the device to be opened and closed for maintenance access, as the materials maintain their protective properties through repeated installation and removal cycles.
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
The solution provides a versatile, cost-effective, and reusable insulation system that can be easily customized and installed on-site, reducing thermal and water vapor transfer while maintaining insulative performance across different pipe components, thus lowering operational costs and improving maintenance accessibility.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of the first or second layers and the one or more fastening mechanisms are fabricated from a material having low permeance sufficient to substantially preclude water vapor penetration there through
Implementation Method 2
an inner layer of flexible insulation held between the first and second layers by way of stitching
Data Source
AI summary
A segmented insulative device and related kit for insulating components of a thermal distribution system, and particularly chilled fluid systems. The kit includes a sheet of segmented insulation formed by a composite layer of segmented, flexible, pre-sewn insulation that is easily cut to size in the field using scissors, utility knives or other simple, hand-held cutting devices. The composite layer includes at least one outer layer of low permeance laminate devoid of stitching and adhered to the pre-sewn insulation. The kit also includes low permeance pressure-sensitive adhesive tape as fasteners, also easily cut to length, using hand-held devices. The low permeance laminate and the low permeance pressure-sensitive adhesive tape form a contiguous outer water vapor barrier free of stitching that would otherwise compromise low permeance. The segmented insulation and the fasteners are attached to one another in the field. This provides an installation kit that an installer can use to provide a versatile insulation in the form of the assembled segmented insulative device that insulates against heat gain to the chilled surface and retards the intrusion of water vapor into the insulation as well as to the chilled surface. The segmented insulative device lends itself to quick customization on-site rather than requiring costly off-site manufacture or pre-assembly and subsequent quick installation on the pipe component requiring thermal installation.