High-performance, non-CFC-based thermal insulation: Gas filled panels.

摘要

Because of the forthcoming phase-out of CFCs and to comply with the more stringent building and appliance energy-use standards, researchers in industry and in the public sector are pursuing the development of non-CFC-based, high-performance insulation materials. This report describes the results of research and development of one alternative insulation material: highly insulating GFPs. GFPs insulate in two ways: by using a gas barrier envelope to encapsulate a low-thermal-conductivity gas or gas mixture (at atmospheric pressure), and by using low-emissivity baffles to effectively eliminate convective and radiative heat transfer. This approach has been used successfully to produce superinsulated windows. Unlike foams or fibrous insulations, GFPs are not a homogeneous material but rather an assembly of specialized components. The wide range of potential applications of GFPs (appliances, manufactured housing, site-built buildings, refrigerated transport, and so on) leads to several alternative embodiments. While the materials used for prototype GFPs are commercially available, further development of components may be necessary for commercial products. With the exception of a description of the panels that were independently tested, specific information concerning panel designs and materials is omitted for patent reasons; this material is the subject of a patent application by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.