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Experimental and analytical investigations of simultaneous heat and moisture transport through glass fiber insulation

From National Research Council Canada

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Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
FormatText, Article
SubjectThermal Insulation; Building Envelope; Fibre; Isolation thermique; Enveloppe du bâtiment
Abstract
This article looks at all the possible mechanisms through which moisture is transported.This is done through two series of experiments and detailed numerical analysis. The experiments include investigations on water vapour transport in the presence of thermal gradients and drying of fully saturated specimens through evaporation. Physical quantities measured include history of heat flux, boundary temperatures and relative humidities and transient moisture distributions. The simultaneous heat and moisture transport processes are mathematically described through a pair of conservation equations. In a finite difference method, these equations are used for detailed numerical analysis of the processes. The numerical analysis makes use of the experimental data to derive consistent values for a set of moisture transport properties, representative of a sample of medium density glass fiber insulation. The properties include thermal conductivity as a function of moisture content, vapour permeability as a function of temperature, moisture diffusivity as a function of moisture content and temperature, heat capacity and hydraulic conductivity as functions of moisture content and sorption isotherm. A sensitivity analysis and an independent experiment on the drying of a randomly wet specimen support the results obtained from the numerical analysis.
Publication date
In
  • Journal of Thermal Insulation and Building Envelopes 16, no. Jan (1993): 263–292.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
IdentifierIRC-P-1980
NRC numberNRCC 34946
NRC-IRC-4060
NPARC number20393363
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Record identifierc62fbc66-0296-409d-ab8e-39e8028b0000
Record created2012-07-26
Record modified2020-04-24
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