Advanced insulations for refrigerated shipping containers

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · ASHRAE Journal

OSTI ID:139796

Feldman, Jr, K T ^[1]

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1. Thermal Electric Devices Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

This article reports on a research project that was recently conducted to find a cost effective insulation for refrigerated shipping containers (reefers) that avoids the environmental problems associated with CFCs currently used in foam insulated reefers. Advanced vacuum insulations (which contain no CFCs and have high thermal resistances) have been studied at U.S. National Laboratories and at several companies in America and Germany. These insulations include: vacuum powder insulation, and vacuum silica aerogel, which have up to R-20 to R-30 per inch; gas-filled panels (GFPs) recently developed that are very lightweight and have up to R-15 per inch; and compact vacuum insulation (CVI) that was also recently developed. As a comparison, CFC-blown urethane foam currently used for shipping container insulation has a thermal resistivity of R-7 per inch. (R per inch or R-value are common thermal resistivity terms for insulations; hr-{degree}F-ft{sup 2}/Btu-in.). Although the advanced insulations may cost more than CFC-blown foams, ongoing research on the use of these insulations in household refrigerators indicates that R-40 would provide the optimum lifecycle cost effectiveness for refrigerators and give substantial energy savings. Similar advantages can be expected from the advanced insulations used in reefers. Thus, the high resistivity of the advanced insulations and the pressing problem of CFC elimination provide strong incentives to investigate the advanced insulations.

• OSTI ID: 139796
• Journal Information: ASHRAE Journal, Journal Name: ASHRAE Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 35; ISSN 0001-2491; ISSN ASHRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
PERFORMANCE
R FACTORS
REFRIGERATORS
ROAD TRANSPORT
THERMAL INSULATION
TRUCKS