1. Armaflex Solutions For Cooling, Refrigeration
Air Conditioning and Ventilation

2. Armaflex Solutions For Cooling, Refrigeration, AC and Ventilation Systems
General information on condensation control.
Products for Cooling and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Products for Ventilation.

3. Cooling &Refrigeration
Target:
Prevent condensation
Improve the protection against corrosion under insulation
Limit heat gain (energy savings)

4. Condensation Control– main problem to deal with on cooling, refrigeration and AC installations
Water on the surface of metal pipe cause corrosion.

5. Condensation Control– main problem to deal with on cooling refrigeration and AC installations

6. What is condensation?
Air contains a quantity of water vapour.

7. What is condensation? dew point initial (ambient) temp. (+22°C)
humidity 100%
initial (ambient) temp. (+22°C)
humidity 85%
final (line) temp. (+6°C)
humidity 100%
Reduction of ambient air temperature will cause the relative humidity to increase even with the same amount of moisture, up to 100% for dew point.
excess moisture
(surface condensation)

8. Condensation control - dew point
pipe 0°
[°C] + -
ambient temp.
dew point temp.
line temp.
surface temp.
(> dew point temp.)
insulation

9. Insulation surface temperature can not exceed the dew point temperature
o = 19,9°C >
o = R = 19,4°C
R = 19,4°C
steel pipe DN 15
ext. diameter 21,3 mm
line temp. m = + 6°C
ambient temp. a = + 22°C
humidity  = 85 %
SR = 14,2 mm
Smin = 16,5 mm
Snom = 18,0 mm
thickness range
tube AF-4-022

10. Minimal insulation thickness as a function of humiditymm
pipe  28mm
ambient temp. = +25°C
-12°C
insulation thickness
relative humidity of the ambient air

11. Surface coefficient of heat transfer – influence the condensation on the insulation
temperature of external surface depends on surface coefficient
ambient temperature a
line temperature i
hse
external surface coefficient
surface temperature
9 W/(m2K)
5 W/(m2K) TF TW T h q

12. Surface coefficient of heat transfer - equations
Surface coefficient of heat transfer can have very various values depending on kind (rough/smooth) and colour (black/bright) of surface, kind of medium (liquid/gaseous) and velocity of flow of medium as well as temperature of insulation surface and ambient.
Surface coefficient usually consists of two parts: due to convection and due to radiation: h = hc + hr .
Radiation part can be calculated according to the rules of heat transfer by radiation. However convection part can be calculated based on empirical equations. Alltogether due to above reason the calculated value of surface coefficient is never too precise and its precision can be even 30% (or less precise). hr hc

13. Surface coefficient of heat transfer - values
surface coefficient [W/(m2K)]
value
between flowing liquid medium in pipe and pipe surface
1 000
on bright insulation surface (e.g. Aluminium ), no wind
45
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), no wind
810
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), wind 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h 15
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), wind 5 m/s = 18 km/h 50
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), wind 10 m/s = 36 km/h 90
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), wind 20 m/s = 72 km/h
160
on black insulation surface (e.g. Armaflex), wind 50 m/s = 180 km/h
370
m/s

14. Static area increases the danger of condensation
lack of free air circulation (convection)

15. Location of the tank - view from top
diameter 8.2 m
hight 4.5 m
air flow

16. No distance to the wall: condensation

17. Condensation only in these places where surface coefficient is low

18. Required air gaps between insulated objects
 100 mm
 100 mm
 100 mm
 100 mm
 100 mm
 100 mm
 mm
 mm
 mm
min. 25 mm (better 100 mm) for pipes / small objects
1,000 mm for vessels / large objects

19. Water vapour diffusion Condensation on the pipe wall
Condensation Control– main problem to deal with on cooling refrigeration and AC installations
Water vapour diffusion
Ice =2,2 W/(mK)
Water vapour penetration causes deterioration in the insulation properties
temp.- 20°C
λ goes up as an effect of water vapour penetration into insulation material
Condensation on the pipe wall
Water
=0,55 W/(mK)
Dry Insulation =0,033 W/(mK)

20. Small transmission through resistant insulation
Thanks to strong  value water vapour penetration is very slow and kept at limited level.
temp.+ 6°C
RH 0%
 = water vapour diffusion resistance factor
diffusion in air
diffusion in insulation
 =
ambient temp. 22°C
relative humidity RH 70%

21. Water vapour permeability
Important: water vapour permeability  is measured at constant temperature. Water vapour partial pressure difference is ensured by humidity sorbent inside the tube or inside the box with sheet lid: relative humidity = 0.
Diffusion in the material or air is defined by
water vapour permeability 
g · cm
m2 · h · Pa
Test for sheets acc. to EN at 23°C and 50% humidity

22. Water vapour permeability by materials
air
insulation
metal

23. 23
In refrigeration and air-conditioning only elastomeric insulation should be used
Armaflex ULTIMA
AF/Armaflex
Armaflex XG
Armaflex ACE
NH/Armaflex
HT/Armaflex
Why?

24. 24
A reliable closed-cell material must protect the insulation against impermissible penetration of moisture.
A high -value reduces the possibility of moisture penetration into insulation 

25. Tight joints are important
Installation should be carried out with products that enable a tight fit both at the joints as well as along the pipe length.
6°C
RH 0%
Rigid insulation can often leave a gap where moisture can form.

26. Tight joints
The integrity of the system (tight joints) is only ensured by correct installation procedures and the use of correct adhesive.
The contact System Armaflex Adhesive grabs the Armaflex insulation surface by chemical reaction resulting in a “cold weld” joint.
“cold weld” joint guarantees required tightness

27. Armaflex products based on Flexible Elastomeric Foam have excellent μ value
Armaflex products have a closed cell structure and very good μ-values
>
>

28. Closed cell insulation prevents corrosion
AF/Armaflex insulation after 20 years
values of  i  parameters preserved

29. Solving the problems with Armaflex insulation
The vapour barrier is not concentrated on a thin (sensitive and relatively inflexible) film or the like, but is built up over the entire insulation thickness.
The resistance to water vapour diffusion permanently reduces diffusion phenomena to a minimum.
The highly flexible foam fits around even the most complicated of objects, and it can be bonded over the entire insulation thickness at critical points (e.g. penetrations, junctions, etc.).
Armaflex insulation can be insatlled without any gaps where moisture can form due to excellent glued connections

30. Products for cooling refrigaration AC and ventilation30
Products for cooling refrigaration AC and ventilation
Refrigeration, Cooling Air Conditioning and Ventilation
PREMIUM FEF PRODUCTS:
AF/ARMAFLEX,ARMAFIX AF
TUBOLIT SPLIT
SPECIAL FEF PRODUCTS:
ARMAFLEX ULTIMA
NH/ARMAFLEX
StaNDARD FEF PRODUCTS
Armaflex XG, Armafix X
Armaflex ACE
HT/Armaflex
Armaflex Duct
EPDM PRODUCTS:
HT/ARMAFLEX
HT/ARMAFLEX S
TUBES
SHEETS
TAPE

31. Armaflex - Applications
Armaflex insulation:
for pipes,air ducts, vessels of air-conditioning / refrigeration and process equipment
prevent condensation and save energy. Structure-borne noise reduction

32. Thank you