One issue that is universal to facilities and factories around the world is the need to protect personnel from the burn risks of hot equipment surfaces. Both OSHA and ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety standards provide requirements for personnel safety and often clients we work with are trying to meet those standards for a safe working environment.
Equipment that can be too hot to touch includes:
- Steam pipes
- Steam valves
- Boilers
- Ovens
- Cookers
- Processing Tanks
- Curing molds
- Other heat process equipment
The generally recognized “safe touch” temperature is 140F (60C) or below. One of the standards that mentions this is ASTM C1055 (the Standard Guide for Heated System Surface Conditions that Produce Contact Burn Injuries), which recommends that surface temperatures remain at or below 140F. The reason for this is that the average person can touch a 140F surface for up to five seconds without sustaining irreversible burn damage.
With older forms of insulation, it is not always easy to form a reliable barrier between the hot surface and the people working around it. Fiberglass and mineral wool are difficult to wrap around pipe elbows, valves and larger equipment like boilers or ovens. They’re also very susceptible to moisture and dust infiltration, which reduces their insulating ability.
The Value of a Durable, Long-Lasting Spray-On Insulation for Personnel Safety
The beauty of Nansulate™ EPX-H2O thermal insulating coating is that it resists infiltration by moisture and dust, is highly chemical resistant, and it prevents corrosion of the underlying substrate.
The advantage of a spray-on insulation technology is that it instantly conforms to any size or shape of surface, staying in place and maintaining its high level of performance throughout its lifespan of a decade or more.
The product has the ability to bring a surface as hot as 400F down to 140F in just a matter of hours if coated while the surface is hot.
But, enough talk! Seeing is believing!
What’s it like to see EPX-H2O being demonstrated in person? Here’s a video from the field that illustrates the eye-opening temperature reduction of our coating up close and personal.
The uncoated steam pipe was 352F, and was reduced to safe touch in the course of just two hours.
Click below to see the video.
Ready to Solve Safe Touch Temperature Issues?
Do you have surfaces that need to be insulated to protect workers from potential burn injuries? Just tell us the operating surface temperature and the equipment dimensions and we can tell you how many coats to use to reach 140F/60C and how much product you’ll need.
Call us today at 800-858-3176 or request a specification online.
