Abstract: The insulation of thermal equipments and pipes is of great importance to reduce the energy consumption. In this paper, a new type of ceramic composite insulation material is applied in some of the equipment and piping of a 350-MW unit in Huaneng Dandong Power Plant 350 MW and corresponding testing is conducted regarding the surface temperature, surface heat losses and actual thickness, etc. In addition, the testing results are compared with the laboratory testing result data such as heat flux and material temperature change with respect to thickness variations. Then by virtue of the scanning electron microscopy images the impact of the material structure on the thermal insulation properties is analyzed. The experiment results show that the novel material has outstanding insulation performance due to its smaller pore size and longer heat conduction path with multilevel structure. With this novel thermal insulation material the outer surface temperature of the equipment(such as the burner) is lower than the limit specified in the national standard. The heat flow density value is only about 158 W/m², which is far below the maximum limit of 266 W/m² in the national standard. Compared with the aluminum silicate cotton insulation material, the material thickness can also be reduced by 65% for the same heat preservation effect.

Key words: thermal power plant, thermal system, insulation material, thermal insulation property, heat flux, energy saving