Application of Poensgen apparatus for determining the thermal conductivity of reflective insulations

Abstract

Abstract.Multilayer reflective insulations are a combination of several or a dozen low emission screens compressed together, separated by layers of bubble foil or polyethylene foam. This paper presents the results of experimental investigation of thermal conductivity of multilayer reflective insulations. The measurements were made with Poensgens LaserComp FOX 314 apparatus. Five samples of reflective insulation and one sample of foamed polystyrene have been tested. The difficulties of determining the replacement thermal resistance for the discussed materials have been presented. Information about the apparatus used, theory of the measurement method, procedure of the experiment and method of sample preparation were presented. The study was performed for four different temperature pairs representing the real thermal conditions in Poland throughout the year. On the basis of the obtained measurement results the average thermal conductivity and average thermal resistance of the tested materials were determined. The relation between the obtained thermal conductivity and thermal resistance depending on the temperature was discussed.