Home

About Isover SA

Product Range

Glasswool

Ultimate

Foams

Home Owner

About insulation

Aerolite

Geyser Insulation Pack / Pipes

Energy Efficiency Legislation

Home

About Isover SA

Product Range

Glasswool

Ultimate

Foams

Home Owner

About insulation

Aerolite

Geyser Insulation Pack / Pipes

Energy Efficiency Legislation

International :

Intro Glasswool UltimateStonewool Foams Thermals AcousticFire

Product Range and Properties

When planning a project, the specific insulation requirements with regards to thermal, acoustic and fire properties need to be considered before selecting the product that best meets these requirements.

With over 55 years experience in the South African insulation market, Isover`s 7 local manufacturing sites produce a wide range of insulation materials. Glasswool and ULTIMATE are manufactured according to ISO 9001 Quality Management System standards and ISO 9001 is currently being implemented in the Foams operation.

Glasswool is one of the most environmentally friendly, stable and sustainable insulation materials made from a combination of naturally occurring minerals, fluxing agents and up to 80% recycled glass. Our glasswool range provides excellent thermal and acoustic insulation solutions that improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

ULTIMATE is a new generation non-combustible mineral wool with excellent thermal performance for high temperature applications in the industrial and technical markets. ULTIMATE is produced from finely ground, blended batch materials and is the result of more than 20 years of intense research and development conducted in Europe.

Sagex is Isover South Africa’s Foams division manufacturing a range of expanded polystyrene, phenolic foam and rigid polyurethane foams which offer a choice of lightweight, high compressive strength and water resistant insulation solutions for use in industrial, commercial and domestic applications.

Isover product data sheets are colour coded with an application colour that denotes the typical application of the product.

Application colour codes

	Partition Walls		Flat Roofs
	Walls		Pitched Roofs
	Floors		Metallic Buildings
	Technical Installation		Ceilings

Attached to most product data sheet are:

Installation methods

Architectural specifications

Construction details

Glasswool

Isover offers a comprehensive range of glasswool products to provide solutions for thermal and acoustic control in a wide variety of applications.

In 2008 Isover South Africa invested R 30 million upgrading our production facilities, installing the latest TEL fiberising technology which has improved the quality and performance of our fibres and has increased our production capacity by 30%.

Energy efficiency improvements have been one of Isover`s main focuses for many years and in comparing the tons of glasswool produced in 2007 to the production in 2000, energy consumption has dropped by 20% per ton of product with an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions. We have lowered our water consumption per ton of glasswool produced by 30% between 1999 and 2007 by the use of closed circuit systems and investing in new equipment that consumes less water

Glasswool is made from silica sand to which recycled glass (cullet) and fluxing agents are added. The material is melted to 1100°C in an electric furnace and then conditioned in a gasfired forehearth. The fibre is formed by centrifugation through drilled circular baskets, where after, binding products and elements specific to the usage are added. No CFC`s or HCFC`s are produced in the production process. The fibres are gathered in a mat form in a collection chamber and then conveyed to an oven where it is cured under controlled conditions to the required thickness and density..

Once complete the product is then packaged in roll or batt form, and our patented process means that thanks to glasswool`s elastic properties, it can be compressed by a factor of up to 10 which saves on storage and reduces transport costs.

Glasswool is the most popular widely used environmentally friendly, stable and sustainable thermal and acoustics insulation material available today.

MSDS Glasswool

Ultimate

ULTIMATE signals a new era in thermal insulation for the South African industrial and technical markets.

ULTIMATE is the result of more than 20 years of intense research to develop a new generation mineral wool with excellent thermal performance for high temperature applications. Isover South Africa benefited from the experience gained in Europe where ULTIMATE was developed and launched in 2004.

ULTIMATE is produced from finely ground, blended batch materials which are melted at 1500°C in an electric furnace and then conditioned in a gas fired fore-hearth. Our unique patented technology is used to produce ULTIMATE mineral fibres. These fibres are extruded through horizontal spinners, ensuring excellent control of the fibre diameter and resulting in totally shot free product.

Due to the tight control of the process, the variability in the density of the products is reduced, and the spun fibre is then collected in a chamber and conveyed to an oven where it is cured under controlled conditions to the required thickness and density.

ULTIMATE products are non-combustible and cover the entire range of operating temperatures (up to 660°C) required for industrial applications.

MSDS Ultimate

Ultimate Catalogue

Stonewool

Isover South Africa has taken the decision to discontinue the Stonewool product range as we have developed Ultimate a new generation mineral wool for high temperature applications. For more information Click Here

Foams

Sagex is Isovers Foams division manufacturing a range of rigid foams suitable for a wide variety of applications from cryogenic to moderate temperature applications.

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)

EPS is a lightweight, rigid, foam insulation material produced from solid beads of polystyrene (with a diameter of 0,2 to 0,3mm). Expansion is achieved by virtue of small amounts of pentane gas that is dissolved into the polystyrene base material during production. The gas expands under the action of heat, applied as steam, to form perfectly closed cells of EPS. These cells occupy up to 50 times the volume of the original polystyrene bead. During the expansion process the EPS beads are moulded into blocks or other three dimensional forms. EPS blocks can also be cut into sheets or a variety of shapes to suit the application.

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) contains no CFC`s and is considered ozone friendly by the Wildlife Society of South Africa.

Phenolic Foam

Phenolic Foam is a closed-cell rigid foam that sets industry standards offering the lowest thermal conductivity of any insulating material. Phenolic resin is mixed with acid and blowing agents to produce rigid blocks which are oven cured before being contour cut into various shapes for end use applications.

Phenolic foam is CFC free and its excellent thermal performance allows the use of thinner insulation, saving space and reducing the cost of outer cladding and vapour barriers.

Polyurethane

Polyurethane is a closed-cell rigid foam board that offers excellent thermal insulation as well as a high compressive strength. It is manufactured by combining a polyol with isocyanurate and a blowing agent. Depending on the ratio’s of the various components the density and the fire properties of the PU block can be modified. The block is then profile cut to suit the application.

Polyurethane foam is CFC free.

MSDS EPS

Thermals

Thermal performance of insulation

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, (K-VALUE)

All materials conduct heat, some better than others. Good insulation materials must have a LOW conductivity.

Eg. The heat from one side of a wall must travel very slowly towards the other side of the wall.

Thermal conductivity is calculated in W/mK (Watts per meter Kelvin degrees), therefore if two products with similar densities are tested at the same temperature and one has a K value of 0.040 W/mk and the other has a K value of 0.045 W/mK, the material with the lower K value insulates better.

The ability of a product to conduct heat

Steel is a good conductor of heat
Wood is a poor conductor

Calculated in W/m.K (Watts per meter Kelvin degrees)

K values of typical building materials

The lower the K value the lower the heat flow through the product

THERMAL RESISTANCE, (R-VALUE)

The ability of a product to resist the transfer of heat

To calculate the R value you need to know (R value = Thickness in meters )

K value

The Thermal conductivity (K value) of the product

The product thickness

Calculation of R-Values for typical Roof/Ceiling Construction Products

Total R-value of a construction element (Wall or roof) can be obtained by adding the R-values of the different components

The higher the R value the better the products thermal resistance

For more information on thermals visit www.isover.com

Acoustic Performance

All around the world, general noise is at an alarmingly high level. Exposed to the soundtrack of modern day life, you are bound to reach your tolerance level rather quickly. Today, any kind of protection from noise definitely helps to improve your mental and physical well-being. It’s a well-known fact that noise pollution not only makes relaxation more difficult, it also brings about physical stress, in some cases causing pain and can ultimately pose a serious health threat.

There are different types of sound sources, namely airborne and structure borne. Airborne sound describes the sound that directly radiates from a source and travels through the air, e.g. neighbours’ voices, traffic noise or the sound radiated from a home cinema next door. The second type of sound, such as banging, drilling and rolling noise, is mainly transmitted via the structure of the building itself, which is why it’s called structure-borne sound.

In order to block out ambient noise, external walls, roof and windows need to be adequately insulated. In addition, the sound propagation in a room is different from the sound propagation in a free field as sound is reflected from hard surfaces and can negatively influence a room`s acoustics. Carefully designed internal walls, floors and ceilings can absorb the noise produced within the room itself. It is also important to effectively insulate sound carriers such as ventilation systems.

When specifying acoustic insulation it is important to check the product’s Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC Value), which is a general indicator of its ability to dissipate sound and to what degree this is achieved.

Likewise when designing to prevent sound transmission it is important to check the SOUND TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENT (STC) of the proposed system. The Mass-spring-mass technique is an efficient means of limiting sound transmission.

For more information on acoustics visit www.isover.com

Fire

Fire is a chemical reaction involving rapid oxidation or burning and occurs only when all three elements are present in their correct proportions.

FUEL - Fuel can be any combustible material - solid, liquid or gas. Most solids and liquids become a vapour or gas before they will burn.

OXYGEN - The air we breathe is about 21 % oxygen. Fire only needs an atmosphere with at least 16 % oxygen.

HEAT- Heat is the energy necessary to increase the temperature of the fuel to a point where sufficient vapour`s are given off for ignition to occur.

A fire`s development is dependent on the rooms geometry, ventilation, surface area and the fuel.

Fire is often discussed in terms of the temperature development over a time period and can be divided into different stages:

Ignition (Incipient)

Growth

Flashover

Fully developed

Decay

When selecting insulation it is vital that one determines the fire characteristics of the insulation. Such characteristics are defined in terms of the “ reaction to fire “ of the material as well as the “ fire resistance “ properties of the product. The quality and toxicity of fumes or smoke emitted in the event of combustion are also important considerations, as this prevents the greatest risk to life being responsible for more then two thirds of deaths from fires in buildings.

To calculate the R value you need to know (R value =	Thickness in meters	)
	K value