New Technologies in Insulative Coatings - Why MEP Engineers just don’t get it

Above - Corrosion Under Insulation ( CUI) of Hydro Plant ball Valve - Before with Conventional Insulation ( Sweating beneath insulation)- After with Tnemec Aerolon Aerogel Filled Insulative Coating ( Coating moves dew point to outside of coating, not against asset)

Since the 1940’s, Aerogel particles have been able to alter dew point outcomes better than conventional insulation at reduced thicknesses. Approximately eight years ago, Aerogel filled COATINGS have become a reality. Why has the MEP community been so slow to adapt to better ways of insulating surfaces that sweat versus throwing more R value of conventional insulation? Have they considered that by asking the right questions, they may actually have saved assets from failing?

Corrosion under insulation has been the #1 enemy to building owners, process manufacturing, power companies, building owners, ship builders, and the DOD. The process of corrosion which includes an electrolyte (fundamentally H20) has been and will continue to be the driver behind the reduced life of physical assets. So maybe we are asking the wrong question? Instead of throwing more R Value of conventional insulation, what if we asked, “What material could alter dew point outcomes by a different method?”

The direct application of a particle filled insulative coating such as an Aerogel (or other particle solutions with low thermal conductivity) directly applied to a substrate can alter the dew point. Why? By applying a thermal insulative coating to a surface of a sweating pipe, one eliminates the air gap where condensation forms between the cold substrate and insulation. When this annular gap is pulled from the condensation equation, the dew point is moved somewhere else. All that is needed is thermal resistance to slow the dew point temperature from forming water. This trapped water is what has been corroding assets for decades. Most asset managers who have miles of pipe, tanks, ships, chill water tanks and alike all have been saddled with the mind set of MEP engineers who say, “You need more R Value.” They then add thicker versions of conventional insulation that repeats the corrosion cycle all over again. 

Recently, I was on a Navy Carrier being commissioned that has been utilizing the same insulation package for chill water pipe since 1966. The pipe was sweating beneath the 2” of insulation, and black mold had already formed. Plastic sheeting was draped over the entire space and corridors as far as the eye could see. This was a new ship that had not started its 50 year design life. How many times will this insulation need to be replaced during its intended life expectancy? 

If MEP Engineers could view condensation control in another fashion, by observing new technologies of altering dew point outcome with Insulative Coatings with low thermal conductivity, the billions of dollars lost yearly by corrosion under Insulation ( CUI) could begin. As of now they keep throwing more R Value while thinking they are solving the problem.