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Experimental investigation on the effects of heat transfer using vacuum and fiberglass insulations over pipes for industrial application

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Abstract

This research investigated the effects of heat transfer using vacuum insulation over a pipe for industrial application compared to fiberglass insulation for steel pipe. In this study, an experiment was conducted at various steam temperature. The experimental test was performed with 1 m length and 80 mm diameter of steel pipe at 27 \(^\circ{\rm C}\) temperature and 1 atm pressure working condition. The vacuum space created by single stage vacuum pump was having an ultimate vacuum pressure of 0.05 mbar. The performance of vacuum and fiberglass insulation had been studied. The basic concept of thermodynamics and heat transfer equations were applied to explain the experimental results. From the results, the performance of vacuum insulation was higher than fiberglass insulation. The cost of fiberglass insulation material was 0.05 US dollars per unit length and the vacuum insulation material was 0.34 US dollars per unit length 80 mm pipe diameter. The heat loss cost of fiber was 156.54 US dollars/yr per unit length and the vacuum insulation was 4.08 US dollars/yr per unit length. The net saving cost from vacuum insulation was 152.46 US dollars/yr per unit length of pipe. In general, the report on the performance of vacuum insulation was higher than fiberglass insulation in efficiency, cost, and environmental aspect for industrial application of pipes system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Aragaw Tadie Alamnia

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Olawale Samuel Fatoba

Authors
  1. Aragaw Tadie Alamnia
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  2. Olawale Samuel Fatoba
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ATA-research conception, materials, writing of original manuscript, experimental work, OSF-Data analysis, literature review, writing of original manuscript, proof reading of manuscript.

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Correspondence to Olawale Samuel Fatoba.

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Alamnia, A.T., Fatoba, O.S. Experimental investigation on the effects of heat transfer using vacuum and fiberglass insulations over pipes for industrial application. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 120, 7415–7431 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09206-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09206-z

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