Insulation materials, thermal ceramic fibers

Interna] Insulation The practice of insulating within the vessel (as opposed to applying insulating materials on the equipment exterior) is accomplished by the use of fiber blankets and hghtweight aggregates in ceramic cements. Such construction frequently incorporates a thin, high-alloy shroud (with slip joints to allow for thermal expansion) to protect the ceramic from erosion. In many cases this design is more economical than externally insulated equipment because it allows use of less expensive lower-alloy structural materials. 

Thermal oxidizers must be built to provide the residence time and temperatures to achieve the desired destruction efficiency (DE). As such, thermal oxidizers are comparatively larger than catalytic oxidizers since their residence time is two to four times greater. Historical designs of thermal oxidizers were comprised of carbon steel for the outer shell and castable refractory or brick as the thermal liner (a refractory is like a cement, which is put on the inside of the rector shell to act as a thermal insulation barrier). Modern units are designed and built using ceramic fiber insulation on the inside, which is a lightweight material, and has a relatively long life. Old refractory would tend to fail over a period of years by attrition of expansion and contraction. 

The fibers or the yarn or rovings made therefrom can be processed to fleeces or mats (non-oriented semi-finished product) and textiles, lattices or meshes (oriented semifinished products) and can be utilized as such e.g. for thermal insulation or as filter materials, or in composites with other materials e.g. for fiber-reinforced polymers, metals or ceramics. Fibers are generally marketed after surface treatment (chemical modification, annealing, smoothing) to optimize their application and processing properties. 

Ceramics used for thermal insulation of microwave caskets include alumina, aluminosilicates, mullite, and fused silica, each of which is relatively transparent to microwave radiation and thus have low dielectric loss at room temperature. The insulating materials included in the casket are typically in the form of ceramic fibers, fiberboard, or a granular bed of ceramic... 

Ceramic paper with a high content of a-BN fibers and with microfibrillated fibers as binders (or, for some applications, with cellulose binders [7]) may be used as insulation material in lithium thermal batteries [8]. 

Refractory Fibers Recently, zirconia-based insulating material with a low density and a low thermal conductivity has been developed in the form of fibers, paper, felt, board and shaped articles. The material is a cubic zirconia soHd solution stabilized with yttria, and has a maximum usable temperature of >2100 C. The innovative fabrication technique involves the use of an organic precursor fiber as a structural template, impregnated with an aqueous solution of zirconium chloride and yttrium chloride. The metallic salts are deposited within the organic fiber, which can subsequently be burned off by a controlled oxidation. The hollow remainder is then fired at a sufficiently high temperature (800-1300 °C) so as to induce crystallization, after which the oxide particles are sintered to develop a ceramic bond. Other techniques to produce refractory fibers involve phase inver-... 

Cmtinuous Laminated Board. Laminated board with incombustible facing materials (glass fiber, ceramic, alumina-paper), or kraft paper is also widely used as a thermal-insulating building material. For example, laminated board is used for roof, ceiling, wall, and floor applications and for refrigeration storehouses. For producing continuous... 

These fibers are, due to their high thermal stability, particularly suitable for applications in high temperature thermal insulation and for the manufacture of metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites. They arc clearly superior to metal materials due to their lower weight, particularly in the lightweight construction of accelerated structure elements for which the basic material should represent an improve-... 

Fillers may decrease thermal conductivity. The best insulation properties of composites are obtained with hollow spherical particles as a filler. Conversely, metal powders and other thermally conductive materials substantially increase the dissipation of thermal energy. Volume resistivity, static dissipation and other electrical properties can be influenced by the choice of filler. Conductive fillers in powder or fiber form, metal coated plastics and metal coated ceramics will increase the conductivity. Many fillers increase the electric resistivity. These are used in electric cable insulations. Ionic conductivity can be modified by silica fillers. 

Si02 is probably the most widely used ceramic material. Silica is an essential ingredient in glasses and many glass ceramics. Silica-based materials are used in thermal insulation, refractories, abrasives, fiber-reinforced composites, laboratory glassware, and so on. In the form of long continuous fibers, silica is used to make optical fibers for communication. Powders made using fine particles of silica are used in tires, paints, and many other applications. 

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