Thermal insulation

Karthikeyan kumarasamy
 Introduction
• It is established by the laws of heat transfer that when a temperature
difference between the inside and outside of different parts of the building
exists, it results in transfer of heat from the hotter to colder zones.
• This transfer of heat may take place by any or more of the three methods,
namely, conduction, convection and radiation.
• The rate of heat flow from one part to the other depends on the capacity of
the building material or building unit such as wall, floor, roof, doors,
windows, etc.. To transmit the same and this property is measured by
thermal transmittance indicated by symbol U
 Objective of thermal insulation
• The main objective of ‘thermal insulation’ is to conserve a constant heat
temperature inside building, irrespective of temperature changes outside.
• This objective of thermal insulation gives rise to the following advantage
• Thermal insulation in building results in comfortable living and working indoor condition
because it keeps the room cool in summer and warm in winter
• Due to thermal insulation, the demand of heating in winter and refrigeration in summer, is
considerably reduced. This result in lot of fuel saving and maintenance cost
• The use of thermal insulating material inside a room prevent the condensation on interior
walls, ceilings, windows, etc..
• The use of thermal insulation materials further reduces the risk of water freezing incase of
pipes and heat loss in case of hot water systems.
 General principles of thermal insulation
• The material used in the construction should have a low heat conductivity,
that is higher degree of heat resistance per unit of thickness. In other
words, the material have adequate heat insulation vale, should be used.
• The thermal resistance of the material directly varies with its thickness
and hence, the material should be installed in an adequate thickness
depending upon the insulation desired
• The provision of air spaces or open space in different types of
construction, like cavity walls etc. and also in material for wall, roof,
ceilings, etc.. Offers very good insulation against heat transmission.
 General principles of thermal insulation
• The thermal resistance of the building in general, and doors and windows in
particular, depends on its orientation with respect to the movement of sun. the
building should be so located that there is minimum transfer of solar heat
during the day in summer, and there is maximum transfer of solar heat during
the day in winter
• Thermal insulation to some extent can be achieved by adopting general
measures such as use of sun-shading devise like sun breakers, etc.. Increasing
the height of ceiling ( about 1 to 1.3 meter above the occupant height ) increase
the height of parapet walls when the altitude angle of the sun is low
 Heat insulation material
• A good thermal insulation material should possess the several qualities
such as adequate fire-resistance and high termite-resistance, moisture
resistance, strength, stability, etc.. It should be noted well that most of the
heat insulating material are also effective in sound insulation or sound
proofing of the building structures
 Type of heat insulation materials
• Slab or block insulation
• Blanket insulation
• Loose fills
• Bats insulating materials
• Insulating boards
• Light weight material
• Reflective sheet materials
 Slab and block insulation
• They are made of cork boards, cellular glass block, rubber blocks, mineral
wood blocks, or wood fibers bound together with cement. These slabs or
block insulations are fabricated in size up to 60 x 120 cm or more and
have the thickness of about 2.5cm these small units are fixed on the walls
and roof for lining purposes.
 Blanket insulations
• They are made up of flexible fibrous material and are available in rolls
these fibrous materials are made from mineral wool, wood fiber, cotton,
animal hair etc.. The blanket insulation are prepared in thickness of 1 to 8
cm in rolls and are directly spread on the surface of wall and ceilins.
 Loose fills
• They consist of fibrous material, like rock wool, slag wool, glass wool,
cellulose or wood fiber wool etc.. They are loosely poured into the
studding space and other similar spaces for heat insulation purposes
 Bats insulation materials
• They are soft materials similar to blanket insulation, but are smaller in
size and grater in thickness usually 5 to 9cm they are also spread on the
surface of wall and ceiling
 Insulating boards
• These are structural insulating boards prepared from wood cane or other
materials by binding the fiber with adhesives in different thickness and
sizes. These boards are used for interior lining of wall and roofs and for
partitions
 Light weight materials
• The cement and concrete products have lower insulation value. But with
the use of light weight materials, such as blastfurnace slag, burnt clay
aggregate, porous aggregate, etc. or concrete, its resistance against heat
can be improved
 Reflective sheet materials
• These insulations after high heat resistance not because of low
conductivity but due to their high reflectivity and low emissivity
properties. These reflective insulations consist of sheet or gypsum boards,
steel sheet reflective material, aluminum foils, sheet aluminum reflective
material, etc.. They are generally used along with air spaces such that the
usually divide the air space into two or more vertical layers
 Methods of Heat Insulation or Thermal
Insulation
• The heat in abuilding structure is mainly transmitted through the roof,
exposed walls and exposed wall openings, such as windows, doors,
ventilators, etc.. And accordingly the methods of heat insulation usually
adopted are as follows.
• Methods of heat insulation of roof
• Methods of heat insulation of exposed walls
• Methods of insulation of exposed windows, door, ventilaters
 Methods of heat insulation of roofs
• It is desirable from comfort considerations that terminal transmittance ‘U’
of exposed roof should not exceed 2k.cal. Per m2 h°C. hence, methods are
adopting to bring down the excess of ‘U’ value by treating the roof.
• The following methods of thermal or heat insulation for treating the
internal and external surface are generally employed
• The false ceiling of insulating materials as shown in fig may be provided below the
roofs with air gaps in between
False ceiling
False ceiling
Suspended ceiling
 Methods of heat insulation of roofs
• Shining and reflective insulation materials may be installed or laid on the top of the roof
• An air space may be created on top of flat roofs by arranging sheets of asbestos cement
or corrugated galvanized iron over the bricks.
• Flats roofs may be kept cool by flooded water either by strong or by spraying regularly.
This helps in reducing the outside temperature considerably water loss due to
evaporation in such cases can be compensated by installing in such cases can be
compensated by installing make up arrangements
• White-washing of the roof before onset of each summer also help in heat-insulation
• Suitable shading of roof on the exposed surface also reduce the surface temperature
Methods of heat insulation of exposed walls
• For walls, also in view of comfort considerations, it is desirable to have the
thermal transmittance U of exposed walls not greater than 2k.cal. Perm2 h°C. to
achieve this objective the following methods are adopted for thermal insulation of
exposed walls
• The thickness of the wall may be increased depending upon the extent of
insulation derived.
• Hollow wall or cavity wall construction may be adopted
• The walls may be constructed out of suitable heat insulation materials provided
structural requirement are met
Thermal
insulatio
n on
external
wall
Methods of heat insulation of exposed walls
• For partition walls, an air space may be crated by fixing the sheathing of
hard boards or battens on either side of the wall
• Light colored white wash or distemper may be applied on the exposed
surface of the wall to increase thermal insulation value
Thermal insulation system consists of the
following material
 Methods of insulation or exposed windows,
doors, ventilators
• All windows, doors, ventilator, etc.. Which are exposed, transmit heat to a
considerable extent. The following methods can be suitably used to
achieve heat insulation of exposed windows, doors, etc.
• Reduction of incidence of solar heat
• Reduction of heat transmissions
 Reduction of incidence of solar heat
• The incident of solar heat on exposed doors and windows can be reduced
by the following means
• By use of external shading such as louvered shutters, sun-breakers and
weather sheds
• By adopting internal shading, such as curtains in heavy folds, venetian
blinds
Reduction of incidence of solar heat
 Reduction of heat transmission
• Where glassed windows and doors are provided, the reduction of heat
transmission may be achieved by insulating glass or double glass with air
space in between or by any other suitable means
Thank you