The Plant's New Clothes – Savings by the Use of Suitable Insulation

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EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Italvacuum, Srl

ProMinent GmbH

Bohle Isoliertechnik GmbH

Deutsche Unternehmensinitiative Energieeffizienz e.V. (DENEFF)

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The new version of the software has been verified by the independent Research Institute for Thermal Insulation [Forschungsinstitut für Wärmeschutz] as conforming to the procedures for calculating thermal insulation factors laid down in the VDI Guideline 2055 Part 1. The insulation can be designed precisely for the particular application in question. "It takes longer for the preparation and input but the advantage is that you then have an insulation system that has been individually worked out and optimized in respect of insulation thickness and minimized heat loss," says Reichinger.

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The type of insulation product that is used depends very much on the particular application: Flexible elastomeric foam, foam glass, in situ polyurethane foam, microporous insulation materials and traditional mineral products are all choices that are available. Mineral wool is used very frequently and has a proven track record for high-temperature production and supply pipes. The pipe sections, lamella mats and wired mats are not flammable, hydrophobic, can be installed quickly and — in most cases — easily and are cheap to procure.

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But before installing any product, there first needs to be an awareness — particularly among SMEs – of the kind of potential savings that are possible, says Thomas Frank. Frank is the managing director of insulation technology supplier Bohle Isoliertechnik and his recommended reading material on the subject is the brochure entitled "Dämmung von Anlagen in Industrie und Gewerbe" [Insulation of Industrial and Production Plants] issued by the German construction industry association and Dena. He knows what he is talking about, as Bohle has held framework agreements with major chemical companies for decades now and has experience in a wide range of fields of application.

When investing in insulation is on the agenda, experts warn against using rapid payback as the sole decision-making criterion — since in some cases this will result in false economies. Ortlieb warns companies against basing their decisions solely on payback period: "In terms of sustainability, an approach based on payback periods is the wrong one. Likewise, the standard practice of replacing defective insulation with the same thing is unwise." The only objective approach when considering efficiency measures is to take into account the total costs over the scheduled service life. This identifies the insulation thickness that will achieve the minimum overall cost based on a VDI 2055-compliant calculation of the cost-effective insulation thickness.

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“We're only just at the Beginning“ – Interview with Andreas Gürtler, Foundation Director at EIIF

? What has surprised you most about the issue of insulation systems in the process industry?

Gürtler: The fascinating thing for me was not finding out that potential savings are there, but that they are there and that if nothing is done about them, it can cause genuine losses to the business. The fact that there are in fact still subsystems and pipelines that are totally uninsulated despite the severe financial loss is quite astonishing.

? Why is that the case?

Gürtler: The parts that often stay uninsulated are odd shapes, such as valves and flanges or components and parts of the supply network that are in hard-to-access areas. As soon as it gets a bit more complicated and more expensive and the pipe in question does not lie undisturbed, some operators will shy away from insulation measures. But in contrast to building insulation, the economic attractiveness is a quite different: instead of taking 10-15 years, as a rule industrial insulation measures pay for themselves after one or two years and sometimes even sooner. One of the main reasons as well is that previously industry was always able to purchase energy very cheaply. Today, the payback periods are significantly shorter due to the increase in energy prices.

? Why are operators now slowly changing their attitude?

Gürtler: Considerable political pressure has now been brought to bear due to the national energy transition initiative and specific and ambitious savings targets. Companies are also still unsure of what will happen to energy prices. Mandatory certification and audits have been introduced. A change in the law requires all non-SMEs to be audited by December 5, 2015, in accordance with the EN 16247-1 European standard where no ISO 50001-certified energy management system or EMAS is in place.

? How does the future look?

Gürtler: We're only just at the beginning. The industry is starting to focus more on the search for energy efficiency measures, and insulation is one of the measures that is of great interest from a economic point of view, even for maintenance hotspots. It is an absolute no-brainer: No-one constructs a building without a door, based on the argument that you always need to come in and go out, so forget the doors. And yet that's the argument many companies use for not insulating flanges and not putting caps on their valves. We still need to work at explaining the benefits in order to raise awareness. But we are getting there.

When such forward-looking action is taken, these inconspicuous insulation systems improve energy efficiency in the long term and at the same time help to save respectable sums of money. In these times of mandatory energy management certification and increasing costs for energy and CO₂ offset certificates, the question of whether or not to insulate should never really arise.

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Potential of Technical Insulation

The Plant's New Clothes – Savings by the Use of Suitable Insulation

The TCO Angle