Experimental verification of thermal properties of the aerogel blanket

Abstract Decreasing the energy loss both by buildings and by vehicles perhaps one of the most important efforts to protect our environment and energy resources. An option to achieve this is to apply thermal insulations moreover, of super insulation materials (such as aerogel) are becoming increasingly justified. However, these are relatively new materials. The main aim of this paper is to present research results based on case studies of a spaceloft type aerogel once to see the temperature, load and thickness effects in the thermal conductivity, secondly to present results of the measurements regarding the two most important calorific parameters as the specific heat and the combustion heat. These results should be very useful for both designers and researchers. Measurements were executed by Netzschh 446 heat flow meter and Cal2 Eco bomb calorimeter. Moreover, calculation results executed on the thermal properties reached from the measured values will be reported. From the measurements, we showed that temperature and external load should affect a significant change in the thermal conductivity of materials, while the thickness should cause only a slight change. Moreover, the gross combustion heat of the aerogel was measured. Changes in the aerogel before and after combustion was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy, as well as with Raman microscopy.