Heat insulation

Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials.

Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of differing temperature. Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in which thermal conduction is reduced or thermal radiation is reflected rather than absorbed by the lower-temperature body.

The insulating capability of a material is measured with thermal conductivity (k). Low thermal conductivity is equivalent to high insulating capability (R-value). In thermal engineering, other important properties of insulating materials are product density (ρ) and specific heat capacity (c).

Solid materials chosen for insulation have a low thermal conductivity k, measured in watt-per-meter per kelvin (W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹). As the thickness of insulation is increased, the thermal resistance also increases.

For insulated cylinders, a critical radius must be reached. Before the critical radius is reached any added insulation increases heat transfer. The convective thermal resistance is inversely proportional to the surface area and therefore the radius of the cylinder, while the thermal resistance of a cylindrical shell (the insulation layer) depends on the ratio between outside and inside radius, not on the radius itself. If the outside radius of a cylinder is increased by applying insulation, a fixed amount of conductive resistance (equal to ln(2)/(2πkL)) is added. However, at the same time, the convective resistance is reduced. This implies that adding insulation below a certain critical radius actually increases the heat transfer. For insulated cylinders, the critical radius is given by the equation

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