2 cm thick insulation panels for residential facades
In order to reduce their energy bill, more and more German owners are installing insulation panels for the facades of their homes. Nevertheless, conventional insulation panels have a thickness of approximately 20cm, which can lead to adaptation work at considerable costs at the level of the windows and the roof.
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process and Packaging Engineering (IVV) in Freising (Bavaria) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) in Wurzburg (Bavaria) have developed a new protective film used in the composition of vacuum insulation panels (PIV). These 2cm thick panels, the interior of which is mostly made of silica smoke, have the same insulation properties as a 15cm thick panel made of polyurethane foam. A protective film keeps the PIV in place and prevents air from entering inside it.
This protective film was previously very expensive to produce. Indeed, it consisted of five layers of plastic, three of which had to be metallized with aluminum and then bonded together. Seven manufacturing steps were then necessary, driving prices up. For the moment, PIVs are only introduced in systems where economy of space takes precedence over the question of costs: for example, in high-quality refrigeration and freezing appliances.
The new plastic film developed by researchers from the two Fraunhofer Institutes is easier to produce. Indeed, it only consists of two plastic films having three barrier layers. The production process now only consists of five stages: a plastic film is metallized with aluminum, then coated with a layer of a micrometer thick in ORMOCER [1], before being once again metallized with aluminum; finally, the film obtained is fixed to a waterproofing membrane.
The automatic production process of the protective film was optimized at the Fraunhofer Application Center for Machining Machines and Packaging Technology (AVV) in Dresden (Saxony). "The end product is better and cheaper than the insulation films currently available on the market", explains Gerhard Sextl, director of ISC. In addition, the protective film and its manufacturing process have been patented.
Researchers are now working to simplify the manufacturing process. In addition, they are conducting longer-term tests on the protective film as well as the PIV panels in air-conditioned rooms reproducing seasonal changes and the alternation of heat waves / frost, humidity / dryness. Indeed, PIV panels had until now been able to resist over a period of twelve years, which corresponds to the average lifespan of a refrigerator. However, the construction industry has higher requirements: a facade must be able to last 50 for years, in very diverse climatic conditions. The results of these tests will be available in the coming months.
- [1] The organically modified ceramics (ORMOCER) are an invention of the Fraunhofer ISC Institute. These are organic-inorganic hybrid polymers.
- More details on ORMOCER (in English): http://www.ormocer.de/EN/
http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/ ... /68531.htm
ps: as it already dates from the end of 2011, the new tests should be available ...
, it's expensive insulation .... source vacupor @ in 2010 
