Chemical Engineering October 2010 - 40

Cover Story
Summary
Thermal insulations at CPI facilities
can provide several functions. When
a system is designed correctly with
selection of appropriate, high quality
materials, installed correctly, and
maintained correctly, it can provide
many years of service and reduce operating
cost. However, some materials
are physically stronger, with higher
compressive resistance values, than
others and hence, in a real-world environment,
are more durable, providing
greater longevity.
Corrosion under insulation, while
long a problem at CPI facilities, can
today be successfully addressed by
using either insulation with chemical
inhibitors, applying protective gels
to the pipe prior to insulation installation,
or a combination of both. For
given insulation systems, appropriate
thicknesses can readily be determined
by using publicly available software
such as 3E Plus. For below ambient
insulation systems, particular attention
must be paid to excluding water
vapor from the insulation system for
many years by using either very low
permeability insulation, very low permeance
and tightly sealed jacketing,
or a combination of both. High performance
insulations are available for
special cases especially when space is
limited. Thermal insulating coatings
can be used to reduce burn risk when
the use of conventional insulations is
not practical.
■
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
References
1. The ASTM standards: C 533, C 534, C 547,
C 552, C 553, C 578, C 591, C 610, C 612, C
1617, C 1676, C 1695, C 1729, and E 96 are
contained in Vol. 04.06 of the ASTM Annual
Book of Standards. The ASTM standards E
84 and E 136 is contained in Vol. 04.07 of the
Annual Book of ASTM Standards. ASTM International,
West Conshohocken, PA. www.
astm.org.
2. Dunn, Patrick, Mitigating CUI and Other
Crevice Corrosion, Insulation Outlook, July
2010. This article can be viewed online at
www.insulation.org.
Authors
Gordon H. Hart is a consulting
engineer for Artek Engineering,
LLC, (Shrewsbury,
Mass.; Phone: 508-842-5826;
E-mail:
gordon.hart@
artekengineering.com), having
spent over 30 years in the
thermal insulation industry.
He is a regular contributor of
articles to Insulation Outlook.
Hart is an active member of
ASTM committees C16 on
Thermal Insulation and F25 on Marine Technology,
Ashrae's Technical Committee on Insulation
for Mechanical Systems, and the National
Insulation Association's Technical Information
Committee. Hart has engineering degrees from
Princeton University and Purdue University
and is a registered professional engineer.
David Yarbrough is president
of R&D Services, Inc.
(P.O. Box 2400 Cookevile,
TN 38502-2400; Phone:
931-526-3348; Email: dave@
rdservices.com), a NVLAP accredited
testing and consulting
company. Yarbrough is
professor emeritus of chemical
engineering at Tennessee
Technological University and
a retired staff member at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Yarbrough
holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the
Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a registered
professional engineer in the states of Tennessee
and Florida and the author or co-author
of over 200 technical papers or reports.
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40 ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com oCtober 2010
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Chemical Engineering October 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering October 2010
