Emissivity measurements on reflective insulation materials

Abstract

The development and use of new thermal insulation products in many industrial sectors, ranging from building insulations to power generation or satellite applications, requires the accurate knowledge of the radiative properties of the investigated material, i. e. its emissivity. A major objective of the research project “Improvement of emissivity measurements on reflective insulation materials” within the framework of the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research was to improve and validate reference techniques for the measurement of the total hemispherical emissivity of low emissivity foils with an absolute measurement uncertainty below 0.03. The calibration and measurement procedures developed within this project shall lead to a significant benefit for industrial manufacturers of reflective foils as well as for the end-users of the industrial instruments used to characterize them.