Our speciality is providing fire protection solutions. You may believe that you are ready to handle a fire. However, often the measures in place are either inadequate or do not get proper maintenance. We can help to maximise safety by supplying a full range of services. They can include top tier thermal insulation as well as surveying, training, and more.
There is a problem with some common insulting materials though. They lower operational carbon but also increase other environmental hazards. In response, product manufacturers and scientists are seeking out alternatives.
A “split-personality” substance
Insulation is hard to categorise from an environmental standpoint. On one hand, the role in conserving building energy by lowering thermal transfer is vital. On the other side, many insulating materials come from fossil fuels. They need a great deal of power to create too and many also have ingredients that can harm our health.
This is a tricky scenario where you end up with a conflicted material. Life cycle accounting strategies are more holistic now too. So, the advantages of some types of thermal insulation seem to cancel out if you look at all of the factors.
Insulation’s material composition is also coming under more scrutiny. For instance, styrene and benzene are major ingredients of expanded polystyrene. Both are extremely toxic, and release in small quantities during manufacture. Even “eco-friendly” options can have negatives due to harmful ingredients like bromine, styrene, and butadiene.
So, product manufacturers and scientists are concentrating on creating fossil fuel alternatives. These are ones that provide thermal performance but with no negative health effects or high emissions. The new products could mean a brighter future for insulation.
Aerogels
These represent an especially interesting area of research. Being some of the lightest known mediums, they provide exceptional insulating attributes. A thin aerogel can work as well as a thick layer of standard thermal insulation.
Researchers at Sweden’s Wallenberg Wood Science Centre are producing a tougher, biobased option here. This is in combination with wood. The team has a procedure to dispose of the wood’s lignin structure. They then fill the voids with nanopores from the surrounding cell walls.
What you end up with is a super light material. This is one capable of insulating as well as or better than aerogels from fossil-fuels. Also, it does not involve the use of dangerous blowing agents.
Popcorn?
There is another innovation too, one that depends much more on a familiar household item. Experts from the Faculty of Forest Scientists and Forest Ecology at Germany’s University of Göttingen have a method of generating insulation boards using granulated popcorn.
The procedure offers a product with decent thermal insulation. It also has decent water and fire resistant properties. The team say manufacturing the boards will scale to an industrial level cost effectively with ease.
A novel composite
One other, low-tech solution also exists. It is a novel composite that is made of old cooking oil, sulphur, and wool. Researchers from the University of Liverpool and Australia’s Finders and Deakin Universities had a hand in developing this new material. They did so to use waste products that supply mutually supporting characteristics.
To create this new substance, you hot-press wool cut-offs with a binder of sulphur and canola oil. The composite you end up with has great fire resistance and is a good insulator. In addition, it has the potential to safely biodegrade when its useful life ends.
Work with our team when you need thermal insulation
At Trident Fire Protection and Training, we work hard to give our clients the very best support. Our team has years of experience and access to fantastic materials. Using both, we provide the finest solutions for various kinds of property.
So, if you would like to know more about thermal insulation or other areas of fire protection, you are welcome to contact us. We serve clients across the UK.
