This page describes a representative engineering scenario for this application type. It is written to illustrate how the material is selected and what typically changes as a result. It is not an account of a specific named customer project.
The situation
A cold separation section on an ethylene unit has been insulated with cellular glass for roughly fifteen years. Ice is now visible at several joints during humid weather, and the last inspection found saturated insulation and external corrosion on two spools. The turnaround window for the insulation scope is eleven days.
Why the existing system failed
- The vapour barrier was field-applied and had degraded at contraction joints
- Handling damage during the original installation created hairline fractures that were never visible once clad
- Every joint in a cellular glass system depends on a mastic build-up that ages
- Once vapour entered, ice formation mechanically opened the joints further
The approach
The replacement uses a cryogenic aerogel blanket with an integral vapour barrier on irregular geometry, and pre-formed cold service pipe sections on the straight runs. Because the barrier is factory-applied, the site work reduces to a taped joint detail rather than a multi-stage mastic system, which is both faster and far less dependent on weather and workmanship.
What typically changes
- Installed weight on the supported runs falls substantially, easing hanger loading
- Site breakage waste drops close to zero because the material does not fracture
- The insulation scope comes off the critical path because the joint detail is quicker
- Future inspection is simpler because sections can be opened and refitted
Talk to us about your project
Send us your line list, drawings or target U-values and we will come back with a thickness recommendation, a bill of material and a quotation. Contact our technical team.