- Author
- Ellis, M. W. | Fanney, A. H. | Davis, M. W.
- Title
- Calibration of a Calorimeter for Thermal Resistance Measurements of Advanced Insulation Panels.
- Coporate
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- HVAC&R Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1-12, July 2000
- Keywords
- calorimeters | thermal insulation | thermal resistance | insulating materials | polystyrene | heat transfer | equations | temperature | uncertainty
- Abstract
- Insulation technologies are being developed to reduce the energy consumption associated with refrigerators, freezers, and the transport of refrigerated products. Among the insulation concepts being explored are powder, foam, glass-fiber-filled evacuated panels, and low-conductivity gas-filled panels. These advanced insulation panels offer the potential for significant reductions in energy consumption and greater flexibility in product design. Unfortunately, the equipment used to determine the thermal resistance of traditional building, insulation materials is not well suited for measuring the thermal resistance of advanced insulation panels. This paper describes a calorimetric apparatus to measure the thermal resistance of advanced insulation materials. It presents the procedures used to determine the thermal resistance of advanced insulation panels, and compares the calorimetric results to measurements from the guarded hot plate for extruded polystyrene specimens. The measurements agree to within 3% over a mean temperature range of 280 to 295 K.