Kingspan Industrial Insulation joins the space age
In space, even the smallest amount of debris can be the difference between success and catastrophic failure, a concept reflected in the selection of duct and pipe insulation for the new RAL Space Development & Test Facility (R100) at Didcot of the Science & Technology Facilities Council. Kingspan Kooltherm FM duct and FM pipe insulation, both with fibre-free cores, were selected.
Based at the Harwell Science Campus, the new centre includes 1200 m2 of clean rooms and test chambers. To ensure services perform as expected, over 10 000 linear metres of duct and pipe insulation were specified.
Matthew Bashford, operations director with specialist installer Industrial Insulation, explained, ‘The nature of the building’s use meant no fibrous materials could be included within the specification. The fibre-free phenolic insulation cores of the Kooltherm insulation made them perfect for the job. In addition, the superior thermal conductivity of these products proved beneficial when insulating services with little clearance.’
Specialist designers and installers, Clean Room Construction, oversaw work on the clean rooms, while building-services company Briggs & Forrester carried out the connections.
To ensure clear communication, the numerous service runs were designed with BIM Level 2 on the Revit platform, allowing clash detection exercises to be run in advanced, saving time and cost during the build. Kooltherm FM pipe insulation is available as a freely downloadable BIM object.
