Implementing Aerogel into Chimney Pipe

In 2014, there were 22,500 reported chimney related fires that were responsible for more than 146 million dollars of property damage.  According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America, these fires accounted for 70 injuries and 20 deaths.  The cause of these fires was the result of creosote buildup and imperfections in the inner chimney linings, allowing heat and sparks to come in contact with combustible materials.  Current chimney construction consists of triple wall chimney pipe that is composed of three metal layers. The pipe is designed with ceramic insulation between the inner and intermediate layer and air between the intermediate and outer layer.  The goal of this project was to decrease the heat transfer through the chimney pipe layers with hopes to decrease the outer layer temperature and potentially decrease the outer diameter.  Aerogel is known for its low density, lightweight, low thermal and electrical conductivity and ability to take many shapes and forms which could be used in place of the current ceramic insulation.  A heat transfer analysis was done to see how certain types of insulation affected the temperatures at each of the layers.  These calculations showed that lower thermal conductivity insulation could significantly reduce the layer temperatures.  Based on these positive results, a test setup was designed to test different chimney pipe insulation types/configurations.  From the data collected, triple wall chimney pipe, with a double layer of pyrogel (aerogel) blanket can reduce the temperature between the inner and intermediate layer by 35ºC.  Overall, the testing results show that using aerogel products, such as pyrogel blanket, as the insulation in triple wall pipe would be advantageous for both the consumers and new construction.  This would increase fire safety while potentially decreasing weight, size and required distance to combustible materials.