HIP · Development of low-cost, lightweight Highly Insulating Polymers for refrigerated transport, heating and cooling installations

Our members, as operators of refrigerated transport and installers of HVAC systems, are dependent on excellent insulation for energy efficiency. There are over 600,000 refrigerated vehicles and containers in Europe and each one wastes thousands of Euros of energy each year due to poor insulation. Likewise, payback on renewable energy systems is compromised by poor thermal storage, reducing their popularity. In short, our members are wasting energy and hence losing money through a lack of optimal insulation. Currently, our options are limited to expensive, high performance materials such as aerogels and vacuum insulation panels, or low-cost but poorly-performing foams. We need a new insulation material that can fill this performance gap, offering high thermal resistance but at a cost close to insulating foams. The HIP project will develop an innovative new class of polymer insulation materials based on high internal phase emulsion templating (HIPE). HIPE materials have been used in other applications but never before for high-performance insulation. HIPE materials allow close control over porosity, pore size distribution and mechanical properties. Because of this, we can precisely engineer the thermal properties of the material within a low-cost manufacturing process. Our objective is to achieve a thermal conductivity of ≤0.015W/m.K at a cost of less than €500 per cubic metre. Compared to conventional PU foam insulation, the savings will be considerable: Based on our predicted uptake in the refrigerated transport and solar thermal markets alone, the reduced CO2 emission will be over 200,000 tonnes by 2020 and our members will save in excess of €50 million in energy costs.