Painting roofs and inner and outer walls of the house during construction is ideal. This way, additional insulation layers can be added on top of roVa Shield. Applying roVa Shield between the wooden panel and traditional insulation material such as rock wool or glass wool will provide added thermal protection and insulation compared to conventional insulation systems. roVa Shield will also provide protection against water and condensation due to the hydrophobic nature of aerogel, the main performance ingredient.

*Click to enlarge and watch gallery.

Apartment walls facing the outside are often not insulated enough and this causes condensation to occur, resulting in mold generation. Applying roVa Shield reduces the temperature difference between the wall surface and the ambient room temperature, thereby effectively eliminating the root cause of the condensation and mold generation. Don’t be fooled by anti-fungal paints in the market claiming as insulation paints. They are often times elastic coatings which merely absorb water and “hide” the moisture from the naked eye. When the room conditions improve, the moisture they hold are dried off. However, they can only hold so much, and if the cold weather persists, the elastic coating will hold on to the moisture for too long, causing mold to appear and grow rapidly. Don’t hide the problem. Eliminate the problem, with roVa Shield.

Container offices and homes are convenient spaces but the walls are too thin to provide adequate insulation. Heating and cooling costs run high for these units. Applying roVa Shield inside and/or outside will provide thermal insulation without sacrificing space. For outer walls, roVa Shield Black Label Aerogel Insulation Coating will provide the thermal insulation needed, and applying roVa Shield Aerogel Top Coating on top will provide protection against harsh weather. roVa Shield Aerogel Top Coating can be color-matched with ordinary color dye.

A 40 ft. container office was painted with roVa Shield Black Label for the side walls as well as the roof, with a thickness of 1mm~1.5mm (0.04″~0.06″). On a very hot Summer day where afternoon temperatures reached 43^oC(109^oF), the temperatures of the roof surface and the office interior were measured, both before and after the paint job. Applying roVa Shield lowered the roof surface temperature by more than 19^oC(31^oF) and the office interior temperature by more than 9^oC(16^oF). This resulted in using less electricity to air condition the office, thereby saving energy cost. As seen by the large drop in roof surface temperature, roVa Shield is also an ideal choice for “Cool roof” projects.

In the video, the equipment used is an airless sprayer from Graco, model name Mark-X, with both RAC and LTX series tip.  It has a maximum working pressure of 3300 psi (227 bar, 22.7 MPa). In case of tip size, for roVa Shield Black Label, we recommend using number 4~6 for the LTX series. (For example, LTX621 has a tip size of 6)

Movable houses are becoming popular for their versatile uses. However, to keep the weight to a minimum and to save space, the walls are not adequately insulated. Similar to the case with container offices and homes, applying roVa Shield will provide much needed thermal insulation without sacrificing space.

roVa Shield is excellent at not only thermal insulation but also sound and vibration dampening. Applying roVa Shield to building ceiling insulates the floor from heat and cold coming from the ceiling, dampens sound that are bouncing off the ceiling, and dampens vibrations coming down the ceiling from the floor above. This is especially useful in public areas in buildings such as cafes and restaurants.

Hot Summer days under the strong sunlight can really heat up roof tops and ceilings underneath. roVa Shield SR Solar Reflective Coating will reflect the thermal rays from the sun (with 89% reflectivity!) to keep the roof tops cool and prevent it from heating up. In addition, the aerogel insulation of roVa Shield SR provides additional thermal barrier to keep the warm outside temperature from penetrating to the inside, keeping the interior nice and cool. This 2-in-1 functionality of roVa Shield SR serves as an excellent solution for Cool Roof projects. Moreover, the aerogel insulation of roVa Shield SR will insulate the warm interior from the cold weather outside during Winter time, working throughout the year and all weather conditions to keep your house and building well insulated.

In the comparison video, a concrete roof top was painted with roVa Shield SR, and a week later, surface temperatures were compared for coated versus uncoated raw surfaces. The measurement was taken on a hot summer afternoon with temperatures reaching 37°C (99°F). The raw concrete surface, heated from the strong sunlight, measures 65°C (149°F) whereas roVa Shield SR coated surface measures 35°C (95°F). A huge drop in temperature over 30°C (54°F) just by applying roVa Shield SR! 

Chemical storage tanks that contain temperature sensitive chemicals require roVa Shield thermal insulation solutions. Chemicals such as hydrogen fluoride, often times called etching gas as it is used in the semiconductor industry, require such thermal protection. Coating roVa Shield on the tank’s outer surface allows easy application and saves cost and time of installation.

Factory is an ideal place for roVa Shield. In the textile industry, dyeing machines consume large amounts of energy to heat the units. In contrast, these units are poorly insulated and often times not insulated at all. By applying roVa Shield on the outside of the dyeing units or chambers, the heat is kept inside and not given off to the factory floor. Much less energy is needed than before to run the dyeing machines and this saves energy costs! Unlike conventional insulation materials, roVa Shield do not deteriorate in insulation performance due to water or dye spills. Traditional insulation such as rock wool or glass wool will absorb water and not only deteriorate in insulation performance but also detach from the unit due to the added weight from the absorbed water.

Factory dry oven is a great place to observe the performance and energy savings of applying roVa Shield. In manufacturing factories and especially in automobile production lines where finished vehicles are coated and oven-baked numerous times, dry ovens consume large amounts of energy but are often poorly insulated. Also, surface temperature of the oven itself pose a safety risk to workers. Applying roVa Shield solves both problems at once. roVa Shield insulates the oven surface while taking up minimum space. Insulated chambers are much better at keeping the heat inside the dry oven. Far less energy is needed to warm the oven than before, and as a result, this keeps the energy cost down. At the same time, the dry oven’s outer surface temperature is lowered to a level that is safe to touch for workers. “Safe Touch” is another important aspect of using roVa Shield in factories.

A typical dry oven surface temperature is around 65°C (149°F). After applying 3 coats of roVa Shield Black, surface temperature is lowered to below 40°C (104°F). Shielding the heat from the dry oven greatly improves the working environment inside the factory and saves air conditioning cost to keep the production area cool enough to work comfortably. Automobile production lines worldwide are the major customers of roVa Shield.

Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) in factories is another place where roVa Shield can help save energy and cost. In factories, exhaust fumes are processed in RTOs as a final step in air treatment. The combustion heat inside the RTO needs to be maintained at very high temperatures. Primary insulation inside is provided by materials that can withstand very high temperatures. roVa Shield is applied as the last layer to the outer shell of the RTO and thereby keeping the heat inside much better than before. Like the dry oven case, much less energy is needed to maintain the heated condition inside the chamber. Less energy translates to lower energy cost! Since most RTOs are housed outside, applying roVa Shield Aerogel Top Coating as the finishing layer on top of roVa Shield helps protect against weather and extreme conditions.

Pipes carrying chilled liquid can cause condensation to occur on the pipe surface. The accumulated water may drip and pose a risk to other parts of the factory, or even freeze on the pipe surface. Applying roVa Shield or roVa Flex on chilled pipes insulates the pipe surface to prevent condensation. For areas where painting and drying is difficult, roVa Flex Aerogel Insulation Tape provides a convenient option. roVa Flex is extremely flexible and soft and can be cut and molded into various shapes for easy form fitting.

Pipes carrying heated liquids require insulation to prevent heat loss as the liquid travels along the pipe line. Also, when the heated pipes cool down, condensation can occur and over time, this may shorten the lifetime of the pipe due to corrosion. roVa Shield and roVa Flex are both great solutions to tackling problems with insulating heated pipes. roVa Flex is especially ideal for pipes in tight spaces because of its flexibility. For consistent operating temperatures at or below 120^oC (248^oF), roVa Shield Black Label is ideal. For consistent operating temperatures above 120^oC (248^oF), roVa Shield Black HT will insulate pipe surface temperatures up to 190^oC (374^oF).

Printing machines and 3D printers have heated parts exposed without much insulation. Insulating the part with roVa Flex improves energy efficiency and shorten warm up period.

Industrial freezers are well insulated but are not perfect, especially along the edges of the doors and walls. Applying roVa Shield or roVa Flex can provide added insulation on these “hot spots” and prevent condensation.

Fiber optic cables, connectors, and sensors dealing with extreme cold temperatures is a significant problem. When temperature drops below freezing, water around the fiber turns to ice, bending and deforming the fiber. This causes signal degradation and reduces bandwidth, even causing a possible break in data transmission. Using roVa Flex at critical junctions can help thermally insulate the area and minimize data loss due to freezing temperatures. With thickness ranging from 500um and up, roVa Flex is the ideal thermal solution for the tightest spots.

Batteries, especially rechargeable Lithium ion batteries, are susceptible to cold weather conditions. Battery cases insulated with roVa Flex provide the thermal protection needed to keep the batteries working well below their normal operating temperatures. These come very handy when enjoying outdoor sports during Winter time.

For every drop of tasteful espresso, there is a hard working boiler inside the espresso machine. Both for home and cafe alike, these heated boilers are the essential part of the espresso machine. The boiler unit must be heated to reach a designated temperature before use, and this consumes a lot of energy and time. Applying roVa Shield and roVa Flex to the boiler unit and surrounding pipes and hoses can help shorten the warm up preparation time, lowers surface temperature, and saves energy, which in turn saves energy cost!

For compute intensive tasks, computers are over-clocked to enhance their computational power. With such benefit comes a price: heat. To cool down this excess heat, liquid cooling system is installed. However, the cold chambers and hoses in the system cause condensation to occur and the water droplets formed from condensation pose a risk to other sensitive electronics. Applying roVa Flex to these parts insulates them and prevents condensation. Since roVa Flex is very flexible and soft, it is ideal to custom wrap the intricate parts and keep the cooling system well insulated.

Semiconductor equipment is a multi-million dollar investment that requires precision handling of wafers and chemicals. The chambers inside is packed with delicate electronics and machine parts. Cold pipes inside the chambers can cause condensation to occur and the water droplets formed by the condensation pose a threat to sensitive electronics and mechanical parts. Insulating these “cold spots” with roVa Flex solves the condensation problem while taking up minimal space inside the tightly packed chambers.

roVa Flex and roVa Guard not only provide superb thermal insulation but also themselves are very flexible and soft, making them ideal as inner linings for garments and gears such as gloves. Gloves that require thermal insulation are often required in factories where worker must handle or is constantly exposed to hot materials. Steel factory is one such place, and gloves they use need to withstand extreme heat. roVa Flex and roVa Guard are used as part of the insulation layer inside the gloves to provide thermal insulation as well as preserving agility of the hand and fingers.

Working in extremely hot areas such as steel factory and construction sites in desert climates requires workers to stay cool and to protect themselves from the heat. Worker’s vest is therefore designed with icepacks inside and thermal insulation layer on the outside to keep the exterior heat away from the body. roVa Flex is used as the inner lining of the worker’s vest because it provides excellent thermal insulation and because it is flexible and soft enough for the worker to move freely while wearing the vest. Other bulky insulation is not suited for this task because it hinders the worker’s movement.

Flying and video capturing using drone has become a popular hobby and an integral part of filming outdoors. These drones run on rechargeable batteries and they are very susceptible to cold weather. When temperature drops to near or below freezing point, they tend to work less efficiently or stop altogether. Under these conditions, maximum current levels drop drastically which means advanced maneuvers cannot be done and must resort to steady flights. Also, capacity reduces dramatically and therefore flight time is drastically reduced.

To combat this problem, often times the batteries are covered with thick insulation materials. However, these materials are heavy and their weight itself is a drain on the batteries. Sometimes the batteries are “heated” before use, and this buys time as the batteries take longer to cool down. However, heating batteries is a dangerous task.

Using roVa Flex to form a covering case for the batteries helps to insulate against cold temperatures while keeping the weight gain to a minimum. This solution applies not only to drones but to all remote control devices operating outdoors with rechargeable batteries as its power source.

Recognizing their superior performance and strategic advantages, roVa Shield, roVa Flex, and roVa Guard are adapted by the military worldwide. Priority of material strength in steel armor and of space in tight dimensions often place insulation lower in terms of priority. As a result, problems such as condensation, extreme interior temperature swings, and noise reverberation arise from inadequate insulation. In areas where there is no room for thick conventional insulation to be installed, applying roVa Shield and roVa Flex allows effective insulation while taking up very little space.

Because military equipment, vehicles, and vessels are constantly exposed to harsh weather conditions, interior temperatures may reach extremely hot or extremely cold conditions, with condensation a common occurrence. Wide temperature swings and water formed in the interior can become an operational hazard as well as the root cause for equipment malfunction.

Also, shielding heat and noise from leaking out to the outside world is an effective deterrent against enemy surveillance. Engine room or chamber can generate a lot of heat and noise, and insulating them from other adjacent rooms or chambers and even from the outside world can be of upmost importance during military exercises. roVa Guard, in particular, have been effective in shielding noise around the 1,000Hz frequency range where mechanical noise is mostly concentrated.

For further information on roVa products for military uses, please contact us using the inquiry form.