Mechanical Insulation Workshop Enlightens Students at West Virginia University
The National Insulation Association (NIA) and the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) recently conducted a 1-day workshop on Mechanical Insulation Specification, Selection, and Maintenance for students enrolled in the BS and MS Industrial Engineering program at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The university is one of the Department of Energy’s Industrial Energy Assessment Centers. In that capacity, students in the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department are invited by local manufacturing companies to conduct industrial assessments. Insulation systems are one component of a facility that the students review for energy upgrade opportunities.
According to Professor Gopalakrishnan (assistant director of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Industrial Technologiesfunded Industrial Assessment Center and Undergraduate and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology EC 2000 program coordinator), “Generally, the IAC team that includes students looks at lighting, motors, compressors, insulation, and many other energy-saving areas to determine opportunities to save energy or fuel dollars. We then submit a report with the findings to the company’s management. We’d like to be in a position to offer general recommendations in that final report as we find that in many cases, repairing or upgrading the insulation systems offer the quickest, most cost-effective return on a company’s investment. Our students can certainly benefit from knowledge about the components of an insulation system and what they could suggest as system repair or upgrade.”
The one-day workshop included segments of NIA’s Insulation Energy Appraisal Program (IEAP) and National Insulation Training Program (NITP), two training programs created by NIA’s Foundation for Education, Training, and Industry Advancement. The information presented included “insulation science,” a review of the NAIMA 3E Plus® Insulation Thickness Computer Program, and what to look for on insulation systems during a facility walk-through. The course also provided students with tools and techniques on how to identify and classify insulation system damage so that ultimately the facility owner can make an informed decision on maintenance or replacement based on fuel dollars lost or saved.
“The most helpful part of the workshop was the hands-on aspect,” says Professor Gopalakrishnan. “There was a large table of different types of insulation and accessories for the students to examine. The workshop also included a working problem, where students had to work in teams to assess a situation, evaluate the conditions, and suggest insulation-system solutions that would save energy or emissions. They used the software to determine the thickness and resulting fuel savings and emission reductions.”
The Mechanical Insulation Specification, Selection, and Maintenance workshop is available to any university program. NIA and NAIMA will put on the one-day workshop free of charge. For more information, contact Wendy Santantonio at 703-683-6422, ext. 11, or at wsantantonio@insulation.org.
This article appeared in the January/February 2003
issue of NIA News.
|
PDF · Privacy Policy 
Printable Version
ShareThis