Steel hull isolation: alternatives to foam?

Condensation can be reduced even prevented by thin films providing they are thick enough to give a temp gradient in which the dew point falls so the interior surface must be at inside ambient temp but with high thermal conductivities and other effects such as near surface air temp gradients it's not ensured by any means.
A sheet of quite thin woven material stuck on the surface will stop condensation by trapping a layer of air within the weave. An old method here used to be fine bits of cork sprayed onto the wet paint surface. But metal boats need insulation and where that is fitted the dew point will fall inside that insulation and condensation will form on all surfaces between the dew point line and the outside. But that's not so much of an issue as I posted before in this thread since an internal lining acts as a vapor barrier anyway.

Ceramic balls certainly toughen epoxy paint from impact damage, it's the absorbtion of energy and yes the ceramic crumbles whether it is a sphere or a square. The spheres make the paint easy to apply.

Interesting that the hollow ceramic beads were actually developed by NASA for the TILES on the space shuttle nothing to do with the paint. That's even more damning of the whole insulating paint scam.

 

But wait a minute, weren't the TILES needed to keep the EXTREME heat from reaching the metal skin of the Shuttle?....insulation I believe they call that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_thermal_protection_system

 

Aerogels & like products

What about these products?

http://www.aerogel.com/products/pdf/Cryogel_Z_DS.pdf

http://www.thermablok.com/thermal-insulation/technical-support.htm

....NASA spinoffs as well

 

Also interesting that final tiles were not based on the silica beads but on filaments with a glazed surface, they were better.
But you can't mix and match insulation materials and thicknesses. And using a paint binder for small silica or ceramic particles is well divorced technologically from fusing the particles together.

 

We in Australia are not able to source Armacell so looking at a few other options
1) Ametalin ThermalBreak 8™ is a double sided reflective membrane made with high density XPE foam.
2) Thermobreak® is a lflexible thermal insulation material made from physically crosslinked, closed-cell, polyolefin foam
3) Dow Styrofoam SMTG extruded polystyrene (XPS) blue board with a closed cell structure
Does anyone have any thoughts - boat is an aluminium monohull and i am replacing the polystyrene that was there previously

 

we have used FoilBoard.
http://www.foilboard.com.au
It's a foil surfaced fire retardant expanded polystyrene sheet, made for house insulation so reasonably cheap. Nothing like the hazardous expanded polystyrene this is non hazardous in fire with low non toxic emissions and it's non flammable.

Not for engine rooms, but suitable for the rest of the boat. You'll need to provide a copy of the MSDS to your local authority or class for approval if operating under survey.

 

I'm using a comparable product from Bradford Insulation. Comes in 1200 x 2400 sheet sizes in various thicknesses. I'm using 2 layers of 30mm overlapped.

Being a cynic I personally tested its non-flammability and the claims are correct, it isn't flammable. Even blasting it with a stream of sparks from an angle grinder at close range just causes it to shrink back with no visible combustion products, nor could I smell anything.

So far I've used 31 sheets of the stuff in my boat.

PDW

 

Thanks Whats the name of the Bradford product

 

CSR Thermofoil board.

My local Bradford place stocks it, some hardware stores stock it, many claim it doesn't exist (probably because they've never heard of it).

PDW