ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN Print: 0-89116-909-1
International Heat Transfer Conference 9
RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER IN FOAM INSULATION
Abstract
Closed cell foam insulation has the lowest effective conductivity of any common insulation. Typically, one third of the heat transfer through a foam insulation takes place by thermal radiation. The thermal radiation was predicted for the struts, formed at the cell intersections. Measurements of the optical constants of the solid along with the solution for Mie scattering gave results close to those obtained for black body struts with an efficiency factor of unity. The contribution of the cell walls was also included. These predictions agreed closely with measurements of the extinction coefficient for foam samples supplied by a number of international producers.