The department has an active Thermal Insulations Testing Laboratory established under the NAFETIC Scheme of AICTE. The National Laboratory for Testing and Development of Thermal Insulations was established with financial support from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the National Facilities in Engineering and Technology with Industrial Collaboration (NAFETIC) Scheme. The Laboratory has been actively involved in providing consultancy and testing services to various industries and organisations in the country since 2009. The facility includes testing of various properties of thermal insulations as per various national and international standards.
Among the equipment available in the Laboratory includes a Guarded Hot Plate Apparatus for measuring thermal conductivity of insulation materials as per ASTM/ISO standards. The facilities available are also useful in the development of new thermal insulations. Students undertaking dissertation/project work at under-graduate and post graduate levels also utilise the facility.
It aims to accurately determine the various properties and characteristics of thermal insulations as per national and international testing standards and suggest their appropriate utilisation thereby leading to the saving of energy and protection of the environment.
It also aims to conduct research and develop effective thermal insulations including the usage of eco-friendly and indigenous materials for various applications.
The quality of thermal insulation is of prime importance for its effective usage and unless we evaluate and test the insulation properties and characteristics, which help to achieve the quality, there is little chance of improvement of their performance. Also in order to compete globally, it is essential that properties of insulations be evaluated for acceptability according to various national and international standards. In this regard, a central and neutral facility for the testing of various properties of thermal insulation materials was required to be created in the country.
In order to fulfill the above requirements, a proposal under the National Facilities in Engineering and Technology with Industrial Collaboration (NAFETIC) Scheme was submitted to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for the establishment of the Laboratory. The proposal was accepted by AICTE which has partially funded the Laboratory. Also this project is in collaboration with industries and MOUs have been signed with more than 30 industries including Amol Dicalite Ltd., Lloyd Insulation Ltd., etc. for its effective utilisation and support. The total cost of the project is more than Rs. 160.00 lacs. The Nirma Education and Research foundation (NERF) has funded the major expense of the laboratory besides providing all the infrastructure needed for the establishment of the Laboratory.
The prestigious set up at this laboratory consists of Guarded Hot Plate System which is used for determining thermal conductivity of insulations in the temperature range of – 20°C to 500°C and conductivity range of 0.015 to 2.5 W/mK, according to ASTM C 177 and ISO 8302 within an accuracy of ± 4 %. The laboratory is equipped to test various salient properties of thermal insulations on test set ups prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards and according to the procedure laid in the standards.
The Institute of Technology, Nirma University is represented by a faculty member being one of the members of CHD 27 Thermal Insulation Sectional Committee of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The laboratory possesses a Guarded Hot Plate system to test thermal conductivity of insulations in the conductivity range 0.015 to 2.5 W / m K and temperature range 65°C to 200°C as per ASTM C 177 and ISO 8302. The GHP System is backed up by a 10 kVA UPS.
Salient features of Guarded Hot Plate Method for thermal conductivity determination include:
The laboratory has the facilities of testing mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, rigid cellular insulations and perlite powder as detailed below:
Testing of Mineral Wool as per IS 3144 : 1992
Testing of Expanded Polystyrene as per IS : 4671 : 1984
Testing of Rigid Cellular Insulation as per IS : 11239 (Part 1 to 12) : 1985
Determination of apparent thermal conductivity of powder type insulation under vacuum
The laboratory has the necessary facilities such as Guarded Hot Plate apparatus, ovens, humidity chambers, computerized compression testing machine, etc. required to test the properties and characteristics of other type of insulations. Besides at the request of a customer, the testing of insulations according to other standards as well as according to their specific requirement can also be carried out.
MAJOR equipment AVAILABLE
| Name of Equipment | Major Specifications |
| Guarded Hot Plate System | Temperature : -20 to 500°C K : 0.015 to 2.5 W / m-K Accuracy : + 4% |
| Vacuum Pumping System | Ultimate Pressure: 1 x 10-6 m.bar |
| Computerized Compression Testing Machine | Capacity: 10 kN |
| Insulation Thickness Measuring Gadget | IS: 3144:1992 Diameter: 3 mm, Length: 200 mm |
| Water Absorption Setup | IS: 11239: 1988 (Part – 9) Diameter: 120 mm, Height: 240 mm |
| Apparatus for determination of heat distortion temperature | IS: 11239 (Part 6): 1985 |
| Density Determination Apparatus | IS: 3144: 1992 O.D. 118.8 mm, Height: 276 mm |
| Boil Off Calorimeter | Diameter: 219 mm Height: 1000 mm |
| Vibration Machine | Amplitude: 1mm, Frequency: 24 Hz |
| Hot Air Oven | Size: 0.5×0.5×0.5 m Temp. range: 50 to 250°C ± 1°C |
| Hot air Oven (Drying) | Size: 0.5×0.5×0.5 m Temp. Range : 550+10°C or + 2% whichever is less |
| Bending Test Fixture for Compression Testing Machine | IS: 11239 (Part 10): 1985 |
| Flame Height, Time of Burning and Loss of Mass Determination Apparatus. | IS: 11239 (Part 8):1985 |
| Vibration meter | RMS velocity: 0 – 199.9 mm / sec Displacement: 0 – 1999 microns Pk-Pk Frequency range: 10 Hz – 1 kHz LCD Display: 3.5 digit |
| Incombustibility Test Apparatus | IS: 3144: 1992 |
| Climatological Chamber | Size: 0.5×0.5×0.5 m Temperature: 27 ± 2°C, RH: 65 ± 5% |
| Climatological Chamber | Size: 0.5×0.5×0.5 m Temperature: 23 ± 2°C to 70 ± 2°C, RH: 50 ± 2% to 100 ± 2% |
| Climatological Chamber | Size: 0.5×0.5×0.5 m Temperature: 38 ± 0.5°C, RH: 90 ± 2% |
| Projection Microscope | Magnification: 125X to 1000X |
| Jolting Machine | Amplitude: 25mm, Frequency: 1 Hz |
| pH meter | pH: 0 to 14.0 pH Accuracy : ± 0.01 pH unit or ± 1 mV |
| Apparatus for determination of shot content by elutriator | IS 3144: 1992 |
| Sulphur determination apparatus | IS 3144: 1992 |
| Apparatus for determination of impenetrable volume | IS 11239 (Part–5) – 1985 |
| Carbon determination apparatus | IS 3144: 1992 |
| Apparatus for Determining Horizontal Burning Characteristic | IS 11239 (Part–12) – 1988 |
Leading industries and research organisations have utilized the testing and consultancy services of Thermal Insulations Laboratory, which include: