The above graph relates to the physics page calculator.  It shows how well the theory of emissivity works!

Ordinary black paint is used with high emissivity additive wax.  Some others sell this kind of thing on Ebay

representing it as an insulating material.  But this experiment shows it must be used in tandem with a Neg

(Black) and Positive (white) pair system to be most effective.  Then, Black must be behind white to

‘reflect’ or force the net radiated energy back in the direction from which it originated.

 

Below is actual ASTM test results supplied by an associate at the Supertherm.net company in Arizona.

Flexible Mutilayer Insulation Tests      

Mr. Franscisco Morales Veliz                      October 21,2002

RE: Comparison of completed ASTM C236 Tests

  Dear Mr. Veliz:

 

  Below is the summary of the results from the referenced job files.  The percentages   listed

  for the “Sample” fiberglass panels are compared to the “Control” panel; the “Plywood

  Laminate” and “Stainless Steel” panels did not have a “control” sample available for

  comparison.  For specific test specimen data and test conditions please refer to the

  appropriate test report.

 

  Report Number    Test Specimen     Thermal Conductance    R Value                Percent Increase

  (NCTL-110-)          (24” x 48”)                                 C    (Per Inch of Thickness) Over Original State     

  8373-03     3” Control panel and .010 inch SuperTherm on 2 sides   0.21           4.76                        148%

 

  While these test do not show the actual insulating values we calculate, they are independent ASTM tests

  on the spherical ceramics applied to glass insulation.  They show a possible  R value of 5 per inch.

  This would mean that the unit of insulation cuts the required BTU’s into 1/5 what it was at R-1.

  R-1 is usually accepted as no insulation at all.   3 inch thickness is  minimum required for  ASTM tests for

  R value, hence it could not be avoided as a method to show the unique technical breakthrough that has

  been achieved with the development of these non-traditional thermal insulation and heat barrier systems.

  This test was done on a VERTICAL panel, not the large horizontal surfaces that allow test results of R2.9

  for a quarter inch of polyethylene foam and some low emissivity aluminum coatings.

  Since R values are normally quoted on a per ONE inch thickness basis, beware of misleading test values.

 

  Note that the tests do not report the conductance of ‘air films’.  There is a notation in all ASTM tests.

  Air is kept moving through the enclosed testing box at 14 miles per hour and zero degrees Fahrenheit.

  This is equal to a wind chill effect of minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit. The air is dry and 1 atmosphere.

  The panel stays under 56^oF .(66^oF in 8373-03) and the warm side is 72 degrees. SuperTherm company

  notes that the panel from VTEC has lower moisture and higher R value to begin with than should be

  expected if purchased retail. It should be considered a special panel prepared to show the impact of the

  coatings,  unless it can be protected from any possible contact with moisture or humidity related

  degradation. Technically, they say  the test showed R 19.3 for a single side coating applied to the panel

  warm side. That way is the ‘good way’ to do it. Lower values could be shown by coating the cold side.

  Their comments also validate that the fiberglass panel was designed to reach it’s rated R value at 70

  degrees Fahrenheit. However, this test was done with an average value in the insulation  roughly half that.

  In warmer climates, then, fiberglass insulation by itself would be expected to perform much better and

  may not ever need any coatings.  This was done solely to show test results, but here at thermcoat.com,

  this is one of our technology transfer properties that has certified engineering data, at a cost of about

  $10,000 per test.  I’m sure not going to pay that kind of money for any such tests, but I will consult

  if I must on the subject, although unless it is very important or life threatening situation, it is unlikely

  that anyone would every pay my fee per hour anyway.  If you compare talking to me at $200 per hour

  about some railroad tank car heating project or commercial building, you see it pays to spend some time

  at this web site reading and trying ‘what-if’ analysis on your own time.  That time is well spent.

  I will interview for job opportunities about $60,000 for expenses, and this is a ‘Merry Christmas’ gift

  for the benefit of my expertise and education that I have shown in part on this web site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

                       

 

 

If you are wondering about room temperatures and if radiation really exists, you can do this test at home:

Use a good radiometer, about $10, and put it in the freezer. When taken out it will spin like this one for at

least five minutes, due to the combination of temperature difference and ambient room thermal radiation.

Wait for the picture to see the radiometer spin at 1 BTU rate. This was in a dimly lit room

at night, in winter, room is 72 degrees and has been out of the -5 degree F freezer for two minutes.

 

READ NEW RADIOMETER EXPERIMENT RESULTS PAGE

 

 

 

Below you can find an example calculation for fiberglass batting that is 2 feet by 3 feet

by 3 inches thick.  The R value is 1.6 with no moisture. This is not per inch but for the

full 3 inch thickness with no coatings at all.

 

 

	Length Of Pipe
	In Meters	Moisture %
.30482m=1ft.	0.6081	0
1.995078753325	OD PIPE	ID PIPE
Feet Length^	In Meters	Meters
	0.292	0.1395
Dia. Feet=	0.958005255	0.457677168375
Dia. Inches=	11.496063068	5.4921260205
	Conducted=	667.378249069310625
	From Linear C	0.0803793917541013216
		Mechanical
		111.781015387717342
From BTU		Conducted
Conductivity		Cal Max Heat
55.620790	Btu/Hr/in./Ft Sq	4.21329130979522551
16.296891	Watt/Hour/	cal/Sec
	in. Thickness	or
		15.546278628452459
Thickness
Path Inch	Technical	R value
3.00196852375	R Value	Effective
Area Sq. Ft	1.6180	0.017978888
6.004508184354		20 Deg C is
		A Standard
1/R  * dTemp=	55.6207	For per deg
		Deg F R-Value
Q' linear Foot=	83.6918	Of pipe
61.822277174887086		.
0.738689201006861429
Q"" P sq. Ft=	27.7888	Of pipe
8.54053784672761096
0.307336366860868054
Total R value	0.03598559	With Air Film
Effective Pipe R	0.01799108	Per Area

 

 

With the shown insulation there are 55.6 BTU’s coming from each panel.

IF these were only 1 inch thick then the R value calculates to 0.82945 and

there would be 108 BTU’s per panel of heat flux, roughly twice as much.

If the usual practice of multiplying the per inch R value by thickness were

a valid engineering method, this would mean that a 6 inch bat would have

an R value of 4.97 (6 times 0.82945)

 

 

BUT when we change the thickness to be .4443 meters we get an R value of

2.125.  Of course the larger outer diameter means there is more square footage.

The square footage is now 9.136 at 6 inch thickness instead of 6 square feet.

 

When we computed the one inch thickness, likewise we had fewer square feet.

So, 9.136/6 =  1.522666

 

Now adjust SIX inch R value upward to compare to a THREE inch R value.

 

To adjust upwards for square feet, 1.5226*2.125 = 3.235 for a comparative R value.

This is approximately what tests showed for three inch thick batting but not

for 6 inch thick batting. This is exactly twice the computed R value based on

this spreadsheet for the 3 inch thick insulation.  2 times 1.618 = 3.236

There is only one fly in the ointment.

The test results as they are usually presented lead us to believe that we can

multiply that 3.2 value times three inches, and in fact we cannot.

The 3.2 value would be total for six inches, possibly we thermcoated them.

However, the close agreement with uncoated values for half the thickness is a little suspicious.

 

Just for fun, let us check by another method the one inch R value of fiberglass.

We said that by changing cell B23 to 0.1903 we got a one inch path but a 3.923

inch square footage area.  Thus 3.923/6 square feet is 0.653833

Multiply to adjust downward the  .82498 R value by .65383*.82498 = .5394

But this uses a two foot long pipe and we want to compare to a one foot pipe.

Changing cell B20 to 0.30482 ( 1 foot) and cell B23 to .582 and cell C23 to

ID .5309 meters we now have 6 square feet of  one inch thick fiberglass.

 

The technical R value reads out as .5426

And averaging: .541 times 3 gives R-1.623

.541 times 6 gives R-3.246

The error is .0032 - less than six tenths of one percent error.

 

So, it looks like this spreadsheet is accurate 'on average' to less than one percent error.

And Fiberglass batting is R-0.54 when used in 6 square foot panels.

But R values are NEVER independent of surface area, so this is only valid for 6 sq. feet.

However Fiberglass is always 4.25 times less insulation than equally thick paraffin thermcoating.

 

So to explain how the government publishes and uses R values in building codes, you

have to realize they are talking in terms of one square foot only.  When this situation

occurs, then the total R value is equal to the effective R value.  Air is 2.11 total/effective.

This kind of metric does not always give good information, especially if air is included

in the tables, because air would then have an R value of 74 to 76.  This R value would

never be measured in actual tests, because the square footage is too low.  Likewise the

standard tests do not allow thin coatings to be rated this way because three inches is

about the minimum thickness that actual results match predicted results.

If this is true for thickness, then why does the government allow such a small square

footage of area for a standard R value to represent a material’s insulation ability?

 

Anyway, here is a summary of the results you will get if the pipe OD is set to .0971

meters while the pipe ID is set to .0462 meters, giving about 1 square foot of surface

and one foot of pipe at 36 degrees Fahrenheit difference in temperature and thickness

is one inch.

 

 

 

 

Table identifier number____________Tech R value____Total & effective R__ % of air

            0          Air                                76.0415                       2.11              100     

            4          Ceramic                        2.2997                         .0638               3.0

            5          A Spherical Ceramic     9.1800                         .255                12.1

            6          Fibers of Glass             3.2400                         .0899                4.3

            7          Wood Paper fiber         3.6237                         .100                 4.7

            8          Extruded Styrofoam      4.7483                         .132                 6.2

            9          Aerogel                        8.6063                         .2389               11.3

            10        Paraffin Wax                13.7701                       .382                 18.1

 

Just remember that you CANNOT use the values above even though they are the traditionally

used values to compute load by temperature and thickness. This 'tradition' assumes each one

foot of pipe surface per degree difference in temperature has one inch thickness of insulation.

If this were true, a typical small room's roof would have about 500 inches insulation thickness.

Be careful! Don't trust software from sites that have too many government related references.

 

 

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