Thermal Performance of Urethane Foam Pipe Insulation At Cryogenic Temperatures

An analytical and experimental investigation of a two layer urethane foam cryogenic piping insulation system was conducted to deter mine the system's thermal performance. Significant natural convection was found to occur at the urethane foam seams and between the layers. Also, analytical techniques to model cryogenic piping insulation systems were developed. These results led to the development of a thermally superior single-layer urethane foam insulation system which uses a fibrous glass gasketing material at the foam seams.