Concept Group’s New Thermal Insulator Thinner Than Human Hair

Ask an engineer what price he or she has to pay for effective thermal insulation. Their answer will surprise you. They won’t give you a dollar figure. They’ll say that insulation takes up too much space. Or it has to be some standard shape that doesn’t fit. They have to use more ― thicker ― insulation. And they don’t like it.

“But Insulon shaped-vacuum technology does the opposite. It takes material out, leaving a vacuum. Once heat encounters this vacuum, molecule-to-molecule energy transfer cannot occur. Thermal conduction stops.”

Well, there’s good news for thermal engineers. Concept Group’s new Insulon® barrier is a new kind of small-scale insulator. It can be supplied in virtually any shape, down to amazingly small dimensions. For example, Insulon barriers have been manufactured as thin as 0.1mm, the width of a human hair, and the technology can go even thinner. Shape is likewise typically not a limitation. Insulon barriers have been designed into curved-wall devices with just 0.2mm total thickness.

The key to the Insulon barrier’s insulating power is its Hyper-Deep Vacuum™, explained Aarne Reid, President and CEO of Concept Group. “Most insulators use some thickness of material to damp out the conductive transfer of thermal energy, the thicker the better,” said Reid. “But Insulon shaped-vacuum technology does the opposite. It takes material out, leaving a vacuum. Once heat encounters this vacuum, molecule-to-molecule energy transfer cannot occur. Thermal conduction stops.” Reid continued, “That’s why engineers can design an Insulon barrier into such tight spaces, or around such small tubes, or into such small devices. Even the thinnest Insulon barrier stops conduction cold.”

The power of the new insulating technology is being demonstrated in a growing variety of applications. “Thermal engineers are really the ones pushing the Insulon envelope,” said Reid. “The more challenging their application, the better. Odd shapes, small dimensions, extreme temperatures, big temperature differentials. They won’t find a more effective insulator than this Insulon barrier, and we can fit it into or onto whatever shape they’re working with.”