Molybdenum foams for heat insulation in industrial furnaces

In conclusion, the heat insulation by radiation sheet packages or laminated foams is a complex problem, which only can be understood with the help of analytical simulations: On the one hand, the heat insulation is determined by the thermal conductivity. On the other hand, the reflectivity of the surfaces plays an important role. In particular the reflectivity of non laminated foams as well as the reflectivity of laminated foams has not been investigated until now. In principle, the benefit of the usage of open celled foams as heat insulation is twofold: Firstly, to the mass of the heat shields is reduced considerably and thus the production costs are expected to decrease. Secondly, it is expected, that better heat insulation capability may result in lower energy consumption of the furnaces. In conclusion, the project shows that open celled foams out of molybdenum are a potent substitute for conventional radiation sheet heat insulation. Since the masses of the Mo-foams is distinctly lower than that one of the radiation sheets, it is expected, that the use of foams as heat insulation will noticeably reduce production costs.