 Effectiveness of PVC coatings as thermal insulation for domestic hot-water pipingV. C. Deeble Applied Energy, 1994, vol. 48, issue 1, 64 pages Abstract: A 2 mm polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coating was predicted by computer modelling to be effective in reducing heat losses from pipes when they were exposed to draughts. However, the same coating was predicted to be of little benefit to pipes installed in stagnant air; a situation that would occur in many building cavities. The results predicted by the computer simulation were confirmed by wind tunnel tests at a range of air velocities. The explanation for the apparent anomaly was found in the different proportions of convected and radiated heat loss in the two situations. Where a pipe is exposed to draughts, the convective component of heat transfer is many times the magnitude of the radiative component. In these situations the addition of a PVC coating makes a significant reduction to the convective component and a less significant increase in radiated heat loss. Hence, adding the PVC produces a net reduction in the total heat loss rate. However, in relatively stagnant air the radiated component of heat transfer is more significant. Adding a PVC coating, having a higher emissivity than bare copper, increases the rate of radiant heat losses and compromises the insulation effect. Date: 1994 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:48:y:1994:i:1:p:51-64 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier |
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