K-FLEX USA

With the coming of fall, winter can’t be far behind.  Due to cold weather, pipes are often heat traced and insulated to prevent pipes from freezing or the medium being transported by the pipe from decreasing in temparture / increasing in viscosity.

Insulation improves the efficiency of the heat tracing.  All K-Flex elastomeric insulation products can be used with heat tracing as long as the tracing does not exceed 220°F.  In some cases, the ID of the insulation needs to be adjusted to accommodate the heat trace.
The heat trace and the insulation thickness need to be balanced to obtain a zero heat loss for the system.

When installing insulation in cold weather, special precautions need to be considered:

WINTER WEATHERIZATION / COLD WEATHER INSTALLATION

Contact adhesive is the preferred method used to adhere elastomeric sheet insulation to metal and for adhering longitudinal and butt ends of tubular insulation to each other.  The solvent portion of the contact adhesive must be allowed to flash off completely before two materials may be joined.  This is especially important when adhering closed-cell foam insulations since solvents, which have not flashed off completely, will be trapped under the impermeable surface, preventing further flashing.  The contact adhesive will therefore remain soft, never cure, and may fail when pressure is used to separate the two surfaces.
If contact adhesive is to be used in cold weather, it is critical that the installer understand the effect of temperature on flash time.  Decreased temperatures extend the time required for a solvent to flash and very low temperatures prevent any flashing of the solvent from occurring.  In extreme conditions, it will be necessary to keep the temperature of the adhesive warm.

If self-seal insulation products are to be installed in cold weather, it is critical that the installer understand the relationship between temperature and the pressure required for proper sealing.  It is beneficial to insure the insulation is warmed prior to installation at lower temperatures.  It is recommended that the insulation be stored in a heated room or trailer until immediately prior to installation.
The longitudinal seam on self-seal tubular pipe or sheet insulation may contain a pressure sensitive adhesive for quick, efficient installation.  As the name implies, a pressure sensitive adhesive requires pressure to seal properly. 

A PSA softens and becomes tacky as it is exposed to higher temperatures.  Conversely, a PSA hardens and tackiness decreases as it is exposed to lower temperatures. 

The optimum installation temperature for the pre-applied PSA on the longitudinal seam is approximately 75°F.  A simple rule of thumb for estimating the pressure required for proper sealing of the longitudinal seam is to double the pressure for every 10°F drop in temperature.  As shown in the following table, sixteen times (16X) as much pressure is required when PSA is installed at 35oF as would be required if PSA were installed at 75oF. This information is also applicable to installation of sheet insulation with a PSA backing. 

       Temperature          Relative Pressure Required
                  75°F                  1X
                  65°F                  2X
                  55°F                  4X
                  45°F                  8X
                  35°F                16X<

test new line 1

test new line 2

test new line 3