Transparent Vacuum Insulation Panels

New, low-cost transparent vacuum insulation panels (TVIPs) using structured cores for the windows of existing buildings are proposed. The TVIP is produced by inserting the structured core, the low-emissivity film, and the adsorbent into the transparent gas barrier envelopes. In this chapter, the authors introduce the outlines, the design and thermal analysis method, the performance evaluation (test) method. Firstly, five spacers, namely peek, modified peek, mesh, silica aerogel, and frame, are selected as the structured core. The effective thermal conductivity of TVIPs with five different spacers is evaluated at different pressure levels by applying numerical calculation. The result indicated that TVIPs with frame and mesh spacers accomplish better insulation performance, with a center-of-panel apparent thermal conductivity of 7.0 × 10−3 W/m K at a pressure of 1 Pa. The apparent thermal conductivity is the same as the value obtained by the simultaneous evacuation thermal conductivity measurement applying the heat flux meter method. Furthermore, using a frame-type TVIP with a total thickness of 3 mm attached to an existing window as a curtain decreases the space heat loss by approximately 69.5%, whereas the light transparency decreases to 75%.

Development and calibration of reduced-size plate thermometer for measuring incident heat flux

This study proposes a new reduced-size plate thermometer with a modified shape and improved insulation performance in order to resolve problems commonly found when using conventional plate thermometers to measure incident heat flux in fire environments, for example, a low spatial resolution caused by the large plate area and a non-uniform temperature distribution on the plate. The main results of this study showed that the new plate thermometer exhibits high spatial temperature uniformity, and that the plate thermometer can be reduced in size to 30 mm. Moreover, it was found that the relative error of the incident heat flux of the plate thermometer was substantially reduced compared to that of a heat flux meter using a conduction correction factor expressed as a third-order polynomial function of heat flux, rather than using an average empirical constant calculated from measurement over a wide range of heat fluxes. Finally, it was confirmed that the incident heat flux measured by the new reduced-size plate thermometer in a heptane pool fire was in good agreement with the heat flux meter measurements during the rapid-fire growth, fully developed and decay phases of a fire.

Quicker Measurement of Walls’ Thermal Resistance Following an Extension to ISO 9869 Average Method

Determination of the thermo-physical characteristics of the buildings’ components is crucial to illustrate their thermal behavior and therefore their energy consumption. Along the same line, accurate determination of the thermal resistance of the building walls falls into one the most important targets. Following the difference between in-lab, and on site thermal performance of walls, in-situ measurements have been highly recommended. The most well-known practice for in-situ measurement of walls’ thermal resistance is the Average Method of ISO 9869, using one heat flux meter and two thermocouples. The method, in comparison with other existing methods is quite straight-forward and therefore, is applied widely in large scale. Despite its simplicity, this method usually needs a relatively long time to reach an acceptable result. The current paper deals with a modification to the ISO 9869 method, making it in many situations much quicker than its original state. Through simulation of walls of different typologies, it is shown in which cases the measurement period becomes longer than expected. It is demonstrated how the addition of a heat flux meter to the aforementioned equipment can lead to a much quicker achievement of the thermal resistance, following the rest of the instructions of the standard method.