In a refinery, insulation rarely fails because someone chose the wrong lambda value. It fails because water got in, sat against hot carbon steel, and quietly took the wall thickness away for several years before anyone opened the cladding. Corrosion under insulation is consistently among the largest sources of unplanned downtime in the sector, and it is a materials and detailing problem far more than a thermal one.
The second constraint is space. Existing units were insulated to the standards of their day. When a revamp raises operating temperature or tightens an energy target, the calculated thickness frequently does not fit between the line and its neighbour. That leaves you rerouting pipe, which is expensive, or accepting the heat loss, which is a permanent tax.
Where aerogel changes the outcome
- Roughly one third the thickness for the same heat loss, so a revamp fits without rerouting
- Hydrophobic through the full thickness, so a breach does not create a saturated annulus against the pipe
- Fewer layers and smaller outer diameter, which cuts cladding, banding and scaffold time
- Faster install on a turnaround, where every day of critical path has a large number attached to it
- Fire rated grades let insulation and passive fire protection be delivered as one system
Typical scope
- Crude and vacuum unit transfer lines
- Reactor vessels, columns and exchangers
- Steam distribution and condensate return
- Hot and cold separation sections
- Fired heater and flue gas ducting
- Personnel protection on accessible hot surfaces
Products for this sector
- Aerogel Blanket AB-650 - hot service to 650 C
- Aerogel Blanket AB-FR - fire rated grade
- Pipe Section PS-Hot - pre-formed shells
- Aerogel Board RB-650 - rigid board for flat and walkable surfaces
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.