Personnel protection insulation exists to stop people being burned by surfaces they can reach. The requirement is normally expressed as a maximum touch temperature on any surface within reach of a walkway, platform or access route.
The awkward part is that these are exactly the locations where space is tightest. A walkway is already the minimum width the standard permits, and adding conventional insulation thickness to the pipe beside it either narrows the walkway below the minimum or forces the platform to be rebuilt.
Where the conflict shows up
- Walkways and access platforms alongside hot process lines
- Ladders and stairs passing close to steam pipework
- Valve stations and sample points that operators visit regularly
- Confined plant rooms where clearances are already minimal
- Retrofit situations where the platform structure is fixed
Why thickness is the whole argument
For personnel protection the thermal duty is modest. You are not chasing a fuel saving, you are bringing a surface below a threshold. What matters is achieving that in the space available. Because aerogel reaches a given surface temperature in roughly a third of the thickness of conventional insulation, the compliance problem and the clearance problem can usually be solved at the same time, without rebuilding structural steel.
Practical notes
- Mesh guards are an alternative but they collect debris and do nothing for heat loss
- Removable covers are worth specifying at valves and instruments that need regular access
- Remember that the touch temperature requirement applies in summer ambient conditions too
- Personnel protection insulation is still insulation, so it should be detailed against CUI like any other
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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.