Thermal Insulation Products for Industrial Installations

Nowadays, thermal insulation products for industrial installations make a significant contribution towards the preservation of energy resources. In order to achieve consistent product quality and assured product characteristics, the German thermal insulation industry created its own voluntary quality assurance system based on VDI 2055 over 30 years ago. This is now being expanded to include the European KEYMARK quality mark.

Product labelling is just one area in which Europe is continuing to grow together. The European KEYMARK quality mark for products and services opens the door to the European market for companies operating at the international level. Along with the recognized VDI mark "Überwacht nach VDI 2055", certified product quality provides you with a competitive advantage that sets you apart from the crowd. You can market your products throughout Europe under one uniform quality mark.

The European certification scheme for thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations has been developed in collaboration with manufacturers, testing laboratories, certification bodies and the European thermal insulation industry eiif (European Industrial Insulation Foundation).

Certification is based on the following European standards:

• DIN EN 14303 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made mineral wool (MW) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14304 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made flexible elastomeric foam (FEF) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14305 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made cellular glass (CG) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14306 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made calcium silicate (CS) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14307 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14308 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made rigid polyurethane foam (PUR) and polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) products"
• DIN EN 14309 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made products of expanded polystyrene (EPS) - Specification"
• DIN EN 14313 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made polyethylene foam (PEF) products - Specification"
• DIN EN 14314 "Thermal insulation products for building equipment and industrial installations - Factory made phenolic foam (PF) products - Specification"

These European Standards set out uniform quality requirements for thermal insulation products. DIN EN 13172 also applies to procedures and requirements for assessing the conformity of thermal insulation in line with the corresponding European product standard. Products which are certified, tested and monitored (internal and external surveillance) in accordance with these standards are entitled to bear the recognised "Überwacht nach DIN 2055" mark along with the KEYMARK.

An initial type test is carried out to determine whether the values (Main and special properties) indicated by the manufacturer on the product data sheet correspond to the actual properties of the insulation product. The product data sheet therefore plays a central role. The samples for type testing and for the factory inspections are taken from ongoing production or from the manufacturer's stock.

The quality criteria subject to inspection include:

• thermal conductivity
• classification temperature
• raw density
• dimensions
• austenitic steel quality
• water absorption
• flow resistance as a function of length
• compressive strength
• others (e.g. µ-value)
• reaction to fire

A further precondition for certification is that the manufacturer must maintain a quality assurance system (product-related factory production control) based on EN ISO 9000. Its effectiveness of this system is assessed during routine factory inspections.

The "Thermal Insulation VDI/KEYMARK" quality mark for thermal insulation products for industrial installations is granted only to those products that have been successfully tested against the relevant standards in a testing laboratory approved by VDI, followed by an independent assessment.

The "Thermal Insulation VDI/KEYMARK" certificate is valid for 2 years. It can be renewed for further 5 years if the monitoring measures and tests show continued compliance with all requirements.

The European Certification Committee QAC (Quality Assurance Committee) is responsible for further development of the certification scheme and all certification-related documents. Individual sub-committees also exist for the following topics:

• Testing Laboratories
• Certification Bodies
• Thermal Insulation Systems
• ...