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Chemical Process Plants And Flexible Insulation Systems

Introduction

Insulation is one of the most important parameters for efficiency and sustainability in chemical process facilities, which generally have harsh working environments with high temperatures and various chemicals. Removable Insulation Jacket is an insulation solution that has been widely used in chemical process facilities recently. In this article, the benefits of removable insulation jacket applications will be discussed.

What Is Removable Insulation Jacket?

Removable insulation jacket is an insulation solution that can be applied to the surfaces of industrial equipment and pipes. Produced with non-combustible and high temperature resistant materials, these jackets provide energy savings by keeping the heat flow under control. In addition, jackets ensure the safety of workers by preventing the leakage of hazardous chemicals. Removable insulation jackets can be used in many industrial environments and can be manufactured to any size and shape.

Benefits Of Removable Insulation Jacket

  1. Energy Saving: in chemical process plants, equipment and pipes frequently operate at high temperatures. A removable insulation system keeps the heat loss under control by covering the surfaces of the plant components (pipe, equipment, duct, etc.) to be insulated. By means of this, energy consumption in the facilities is reduced by achieving extra energy savings.
  1. Easy Maintenance: Removable insulation jackets can be quickly and easily removed, reassembled and partially replaced if necessary. This increases operational continuity by reducing maintenance time (downtime) and costs at the facilities.
  1. Safety: In chemical process plants, leakage of hazardous chemicals can pose a serious security threat. Removable insulation jackets cover the surfaces of equipment and pipes, protecting self-integrity in case of leakage of hazardous chemicals and ensuring the safety of workers.
  1. Fire Protection: In industrial facilities where flammable and combustible hazardous materials are used or stored in standard processes, “pool type fire, jet fire, explosion and BLEVE” cases are always among the possible risks, and it is possible to experience toxic fallout that threatens the environment and human health after these incidents. In industrial facilities, equipment such as tanks or heat exchangers, pipelines, on-line fittings (valve, flange, etc.), instruments and also carrier steel construction (piperack, etc.) components should be equipped with Passive Fire Proofing (PFP) systems. Flexible and removable insulation jackets are now almost unrivalled in PFP applications, especially in equipment protection. These systems, which are both useful and relatively economical, can be used on actuators, reactors, etc., protect the equipment that is likely to be damaged by fire at the highest level.
  1. Environment Friendly: Removable insulation jackets provide environmentally friendly workplaces with their advantages such as being long-lasting, being partially repairable or reproducible even in case of fraying, being easily operable thanks to their modular structure, and not creating waste when they need to be disassembled for the maintenance of the insulated component (pipe, equipment, etc.) Moreover, as insulation performance improves in industrial facilities, the overall energy demand decreases—leading to a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions. This drop in carbon footprint not only supports environmental sustainability but also contributes positively to the long-term future of our planet.
  1. Flexibility: Removable insulation jackets have a flexible structure. In this way, insulation jackets for equipment and pipes with complex shapes can be easily designed and manufactured. Besides, the modular structure of such removable systems provides more flexibility.
  1. Long Lasting: Removable insulation jackets are made of durable materials and have a long life. This reduces maintenance costs in the facilities and jackets do not need to be changed as often.

Removable insulation jackets, which are the most preferred solution in the industry thanks to the above-mentioned benefits, are systems that can be easily designed and applied in addition to these advantages. These jackets can be custom designed according to industrial insulation needs. In addition, they can be produced in various sizes and shapes, and material preferences can be made according to the desired temperature or chemical resistance. This makes them suitable for insulating any type of component (pipe, equipment, duct, etc.).

Removable insulation jackets, which provide more advantages compared to conventional insulation methods, are becoming more and more popular in chemical process plants due to the need for less skilled labour. For example, conventional insulation applications usually require a large team of talented insulation workers. Removable insulation systems are manufactured within the manufacturer company and shipped to the field and only assembled in the field. In this way, the off-site workforce to be kept in the facility is reduced by up to 95%, which creates serious advantages in terms of both occupational safety and administrative issues. In addition, when the insulation of a component that is insulated with conventional methods needs to be removed, it can cause serious costs, risk of environmental pollution and more downtime. However, removable insulation jackets eliminate this problem because they are very easy to remove and reassemble. Even any skilled craftsman, often from the maintenance or operating team of facility itself, can easily do this, and there is no need for the off-site labour required to dismantle and reassemble conventional insulation systems.

Conclusion

We can say that removable insulation systems are the future of industrial insulation applications in many fields, especially in chemical process facilities. Removable insulation jackets, which are flexible enough to meet the insulation needs of any industrial facility in almost every subject, stand out among the above-mentioned benefits, especially thanks to their cost and time saving and environmentally friendly features.

In Türkiye, there have been serious developments in the production of removable and flexible insulation systems recently. And thanks to 3D designs and CNC integrated production lines, the way to produce low-cost and high-quality insulation systems could be produced in a short time. While removable insulation jackets, which were preferred for the insulation of high value-added equipment (turbine, etc.) in the past, were mostly supplied from foreign manufacturers through imports, today domestic manufacturers have a significant weight in this sense. By means of this, removable insulation jackets are preferred not only for high value-added components, but also for almost all pipelines, ducts, equipment and other hot components of facility, so, the use of removable insulation jackets in chemical process facilities is increasing.

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