Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) with zeolite-fiber composite core

加拿大国家建筑能源法规（NECB）于2011年推出，随后于2013年被BC省采用，为建筑行业及其利益相关者创造了新的机会。隔热材料的应用和性能对建筑环境的能源效率起着至关重要的作用。真空绝热板（vip）的绝热能力是传统绝热材料（即纤维或泡沫）的5至10倍。然而，vip在围护结构行业的大规模应用受到成本因素和长期性能不确定性的制约。构成芯材对vip的性能和成本有显著影响。用于vip的传统芯材是气相二氧化硅、沉淀二氧化硅和玻璃纤维。气相法和沉淀法二氧化硅基贵宾贵宾具有优良的使用寿命，这是贵宾贵宾贵宾在建筑围护结构中应用的要求标准，但它们相对昂贵。另一方面，玻璃纤维基vip的有效成本与传统绝热材料相当，但目前可用的玻璃纤维基vip的使用寿命较短。与气相和沉淀二氧化硅的纳米孔结构不同，玻璃纤维芯基vip材料的微孔结构导致其快速老化而导致寿命缩短。因此，在不影响有效使用寿命的情况下，开发可降低成本的替代核心材料是保温行业的优先事项，特别是集中在建筑围护结构上。初步研究表明，由玻璃/矿物纤维和沸石/浮石粉末组成的纤维-粉末复合材料具有与纳米多孔气相或沉淀二氧化硅相当的基本热特性，但其生产成本可与传统绝缘材料相当。这些发现为vip的替代芯材的开发开辟了新的机会。拟议的研究项目计划进一步推广这一概念，并致力于使用当地（即BC省）可用的沸石粉开发替代核心材料。维多利亚大学的研究人员将与ZMM®加拿大矿业公司的研究人员合作，该公司是一家清洁技术公司，专门提供独特、有价值和创新的天然沸石产品和解决方案，开发基于沸石复合核心的经济高效的建筑围护结构应用。

National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB), introduced in 2011 and subsequently adopted by BC in 2013, has created new opportunities for the construction industry and its stakeholders. The application and performance of thermal insulation play critically important roles in determining energy efficiency of built environment. The thermal insulating capacity of Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) is 5 to 10 times higher than traditional (i.e. fiberous or foam) thermal insulations. However, the mass application of VIPs in building envelope construction industry is restricted by the cost factor and uncertainty regarding long-term performance. The performance and cost of VIPs are significantly influenced by the constituting core materials. The traditional core materials used for VIPs are fumed silica, precipitated silica and glass fibers. While fumed and precipitated silica based VIPs have superior service life, a required criterion for application of VIPs in building envelope construction, but they are comparatively expensive. On the other hand the effective cost of glass fiber based VIPs is comparable with traditional thermal insulations but service life of glass fiber based VIPs, available at this moment, is shorter. The shorter life span due to rapid aging of glass fiber core based VIPs is attributed to its microporous structure, unlike fumed and precipitated silica which are nano-porous. Hence, the development of alternative core materials that can reduce the cost without compromising effective service life is a priority for the thermal insulation industry, particularly concentrating on building envelope construction. Preliminary research shows that fiber-powder composites, consisting of glass/mineral fiber and Zeolite/Pumice powder, have basic thermal characteristics comparable with nano-porous fumed or precipitated silica but can be produced at a cost comparable with traditional insulation materials. These findings open new opportunities for the development of alternative core materials for VIPs. The proposed research project plans to take this concept further and work on the development of alternative core materials using locally (i.e. BC) available Zeolite powder. The researchers based at UVic will work with the researchers from the ZMM® Canada Mineral Corp., a clean technology company created specifically to provide unique, valuable and innovative natural Zeolite products and solutions, to develop Zeoloite composite core based cost-effective VIPs for building envelope applications.