Report of Investigations 7392: Spray-Applied Polyurethane Foam to Insulate Heated Rooms Excavated in Permafrost

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dorman, K. Robert ; Gooch, Aldon E.
• Corporate Authors:
  United States. Bureau of Mines
• Description:
  Spray-applied polyurethane foam was used to insulate the walls of heated rooms excavated in permafrost. The experiment was designed to determine whether polyurethane foam can be sprayed successfully on frozen ground under freezing conditions and to measure the effectiveness of the insulation in maintaining--at elevated temperatures for an extended period--a room excavated in frozen ground. Two manufacturers' foams were investigated in the laboratory. Subsequently, one of the foams was employed to insulate two small rooms, one in frozen gravel and one in frozen silt, in an experimental tunnel belonging to the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (USACRREL) near Fairbanks, Alaska. Following insulation, heat was introduced into the two rooms. Heat migration across the insulating barrier into the walls, in addition to wall closures, was monitored over an 8-month period. The results show that polyurethane foam can be successfully sprayed on frozen ground in below-freezing temperatures. Given this type of insulation, together with winter cold to supercool the surrounding ground, it should be possible to maintain a shaft or heated room in permafrost for several years. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Subseries:
  Report of Investigations
• ISSN:
  1066-5552 (print)
• Publisher:
  United States. Bureau of Mines
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  48 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Sayles, Francis H. ; McAnerney, John M.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10009035
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB-192302
• Citation:
  NTIS: PB 192 302 :43 pages
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1970
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NTIS: PB 192 302
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:371419178a0df1de6dc54a49adf09001cc16614923333e7a04eec421df92bf2f622652f5f682e7d97173d9c318d7ee379316f9064fb67edad807b00d9c6e64e4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201957/cdc_201957_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.87 MB ]