Pipe insulation eliminates hazards and saves money

Worbo's Cool-Skin pipe insulation will help hot mix asphalt plants make significant energy savings while creating a safer workplace.

Typical hot mix asphalt (HMA) plants use hundreds of feet of uninsulated flexible metal 'jumper' hoses, resulting in energy inefficiencies costing plants thousands of dollars each year.

However, Worbo's improvement in thermal insulation technology has finally enabled HMA plants to recover significant heat losses on small diameter and tight-radius pipes and hoses that have been elusive with traditional insulating methods such as mineral wool and hard aluminum cladding.

Insulating 1.5in OD flexible metal hoses with removable Cool-Skin sleeving enables typical HMA plants to recover $27 in heat losses for every foot of jumper hose in just one seven-month operating season.

This translates into fuel heating costs savings of approximately $5400 per operating season.

Put another way, the cost to heat oil in 'jumpers' is reduced by 68 per cent when using Cool-Skin insulating sleeves.

In most applications Cool-Skin pays for itself within the first four months of installation.

Cool-Skin is easily cut to length and quickly installed in the field by the plant's own personnel.

There are no fibres, airborne particulates, or end fraying when cutting to length in the field with a standard pair of scissors.

Unlike traditional insulation, the hook-and-loop self-gripping fastener incorporated into the Cool-Skin design makes for an easy, effective installation or removal in seconds.

The hook-and-loop closing/opening design of the Cool-Skin allows staff to gain efficient access to process lines while performing maintenance procedures or troubleshooting system components.

Once line interruption is complete, the Cool-Skin is re-installed in seconds.

Introducing the HMA industry to Cool-Skin will help demonstrate unrealised energy savings while creating a safer workplace environment.

Ryan Worral a product engineer with Worbo, sates: "Providing a user-friendly insulation solution for saving energy on the operation costs of a HMA plant is typical of the work we are doing to help customers offset the rising cost of fuel".

Jeff Bowler, a sales engineer with Worbo, adds: "The payback time for investment in these applications can now be as little as four months and it is estimated that Cool-Skin will pay for itself several times over during its functional lifespan".

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