Development of an advanced technique for measuring the effect of moisture content on the thermal conductivity of VIPs

Description of the project: Recent lab and field tests on fumed silica panels showed that the degradation rate of VIPs is predominantly determined by the moisture permeating through the envelope and much less by the permeated air molecules. In the last 2 years Hanita has developed very efficient and easy to operate technique for measuring the response of any core material to the increasing pressure of air. However, at the moment there is no available easy to operate technique for measuring the relation between the amount of moisture absorbed by fumed silica cores and their thermal conductivity. The newly developed technique will be later used by labs for qualification actions of commercial panels and by labs and industrial companies to characterized newly developed core materials.