Vacuum insulation properties of phenolic foam

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 55; no. 19-20; pp. 5343 - 5349
• Main Authors: Kim, Jongmin, Lee, Jae-Hyug, Song, Tae-Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building insulation; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Cellular; Exact sciences and technology; External envelopes; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Guarded hot plate; Phenolic foam; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Technology of polymers; Thermal conductivity; Thermal insulation; Vacuum insulation panel; Vacuum insulation panel; Thermal conductivity; Guarded hot plate; Phenolic foam; Effective thermal conductivity; Radiative properties; Thermal insulation; Phenoplasts; Plastics; Experimental study; Cellular plastic; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.05.051

Characteristic properties of phenolic foam as the interstitial material of a vacuum insulation panel are investigated experimentally. For the measurement of effective thermal conductivity, a vacuum guarded hot plate (VGHP) apparatus is used and the conductivity is measured at various vacuum levels. Radiative properties are found using a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) device. Solid conductivity is estimated using the porosity of the foam. Effective thermal conductivity at high level of vacuum is measured to be 5mW/mK which is sum of solid conductivity (2.56mW/mK) and radiative conductivity (2.44mW/mK) with 5% of measurement uncertainty. The pore size of the foam is estimated to be 260μm using rarefied gas conduction theory. This ensures insulation performance of phenolic foam up to about 10−3atm. Other practical characteristics of phenolic foam as the VIP core material are also discussed.