Tag Archives: chilled insulation

Chilled water applications (around 45°F/7.77°C) and cryogenic applications (-126°F/-87.8°C & lower) require that ambient air does not reach the component or sweating/icing conditions occur. To keep ambient air from infiltrating the insulation and subsequently reaching the component a vapor barrier is required. The purpose of a vapor barrier is as it sounds, it is a barrier of some type of material that will not allow the ambient air to come in contact with the component. Is that all that is required to stop the sweating? Hardly! Unless the vapor barrier has sufficient insulation between it and the component to prevent the vapor barrier from being at a temperature that is at or lower than the dew point the vapor barrier is worthless.