13th July 2009

Insulation/Construction Industry

Product Range: SQ2020

The Background: It is well known that thermal insulation used in the construction industry is important to everyone in our attempts to improve energy effciency and to help the Plant by reducing green house gas emissions. unfortunately, if this insulation material is not stored in the correct way or in a poor enviroment it can absorb a significant amount of moisture. This moisture then has a very adverse affect on its insulating properties and greatly affects its effciency.

Application: Assessing the "microclimate" conditions within a plastic hood wrapped pallet of insulation rolls in order to ensure that building insulation is kept dry.

The Problem: A large UK manufacturer of insulation materials had an on-going problem with moisture ingress during storage and shipment of their insulation rolls.

The Squirrel Solution: Grant supplied its SQ2020 series Squirrel data loggers to monitor the microclimate conditions within the plastic hood wrapped pallet of insulation rolls. this was conducted to assess the changes in humidity in different areas of the pallet (i.e. voids between insulation rolls and within insulation rolls themselves) and the effect of using different packaging methods to try and control humidity/moisture ingress.

The SQ2020 was configured to monitor 7 channels of humidity and 9 channels of temperature. The SQ2020 allowed the company to continually monitor pallets of material for humidity over 2 monthly periods (readings every 30 minutes) and record how vapour moves through the pallet on a daily basis. The data was downloaded without interupting logging, using Squirrelview software.

The Benefits: The study was conducted and concluded in a very short time scale (3 months), and after the data was fully analysed, a new cost effective method of packing was identified and implemented. This was then proven to keep the insulation material in peak condition ready for immediate use by the end customers. this resulted in lower product returns, less rejected stock (real cost savings), better end customer relations and better end customer approvals (real sales opportunities).