Field Performance
Industrial Aerogel Insulation. Proven in the Real World.
For 25 years, Aspen Aerogels has been researching, manufacturing, and deploying aerogel insulation where performance cannot be compromised. These case studies document real installations across refining, LNG, petrochemical, and subsea programs
Product
Industry
Region
All case studies
C2 splitter at a gas-processing plant in Illinois, USA.
Cryogel® Z replaced a fractured cellular-glass system on a C2 splitter — contributing to a record level of unit production and a global best-practice recommendation.
Read the case study
Petrochemical complex on the Taiwanese coast.
Severe CUI discovered on a petrochemical tower in Taiwan — Pyrogel® XTE accelerated remediation by 20 days and captured 8× ROI in recovered downtime revenue.
Read the case study
Butadiene sphere storage at a petrochemical facility in Thailand.
Cryogel® Z replaced cellular glass on an 82-ft butadiene sphere — cold conservation, CUI defense, and a ~18,000 lb static-load reduction in one material.
Read the case study
Chemical processing plant in South Korea.
13 years of Pyrogel® XTE service at a chemical plant in South Korea — zero evidence of CUI at the 10-year survey, with reusability eliminating routine insulation replacement.
Read the case study
Refinery sitewide re-insulation in Singapore.
After a hydrocarbon excursion exposed sitewide CUI, a refinery in Singapore used Pyrogel® and Cryogel® to restart 4 days ahead of schedule — capturing more than $10M in lost-margin recovery.
Read the case study
LNG export facility in Maryland, USA.
At a remote LNG export facility, Cryogel® Z installed 31% faster than PIR — letting the EPC scale to 2,100 insulators, meet first-gas-out, and record zero callbacks after 18 months.
Read the case study
LNG receiving terminal in Thailand.
After cellular-glass problems in Phase 1, an LNG receiving terminal in Thailand specified Cryogel® Z fully across Phase 2 — installing 30% faster overall and 40% faster on large bore.
Read the case study
Ethylene recovery unit on the US Gulf Coast.
Cryogel® Z replaced degraded cellular glass on a Gulf Coast ethylene recovery splitter — adding 3 points to ethylene yield and $560k/year of recovered revenue with sub-11-month payback.
Read the case study
Catalytic reformer at a refining/chemical complex in Texas, USA.
After an unplanned shutdown collapsed the window to three days, a 45,900 bpd catalytic reformer was re-insulated with Pyrogel® XTE — 50% faster than the perlite plan and recovering ~$750k in revenue.
Read the case study
Petrochemical facility in São Paulo, Brazil.
40 km of steam piping in a flood-prone service trench saved $1.3M/year after re-insulation with Pyrogel® XTE — rental boilers eliminated, payback under 8 months.
Read the case study
Ethane-propane recovery unit at a refinery in India.
Live-installed Pyrogel® overwrap on an India ethane-propane recovery unit eliminated monsoon-season steam collapse — $640k/year recovered, 35% downtime cut, payback under 6 months.
Read the case study
SF alky contactor replacement at a refinery in Louisiana, USA.
Four SF alky contactors were pre-insulated at ground level with Cryogel® Z and lifted into position — 40% faster than rigid insulation, all inside a single TAR window.
Read the case study
Amine still at a refinery in Texas, USA.
A 78.2-ft amine still was insulated with Pyrogel® XTE + XTF — 6,000 lb lighter than cal-sil + Pyrocrete®, eliminating a foundation-pad upgrade and finishing 10 days early.
Read the case study
C3 splitter at a chemical processing plant in Texas, USA.
A 340-ft × 28-ft C3 splitter was re-commissioned with Cryogel® Z — 40% lighter than the prior insulation, removed and reinstalled around the TAR for direct cost savings.
Read the case study
Delayed-coker overhead line at a refinery in Mississippi, USA.
Pyrogel® HPS displaced 6″ of cal-sil on a coker overhead line in Mississippi — solved the recurring fall-off, restored design temperatures, and saved $25k of labor on the first install.
Read the case study
Delayed coker at a refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Pyrogel® HPS re-insulated four DCU coke drums on a Gulf Coast refinery — between cycles, zero downtime, contributing $30–50k/month in margin from harder coke and lower VCM.
Read the case study
Delayed-coker overhead line at a refinery in Oklahoma, USA.
Pyrogel® HPS protected a 150-ft × 24-in coker overhead line on the Great Plains — installed and jacketed in 3 days during TAR, with no other material considered.
Read the case study
Delayed coker at a refinery in Kansas, USA.
Pyrogel® HPS replaced 2-year cal-sil on coker feed lines in Kansas — extended pigging interval from weeks to months and added $600k/year of profitability.
Read the case study
Vacuum distillation unit at a refinery in Castellón, Spain.
A 57-m, 700-ton vacuum distillation tower was pre-insulated in Shanghai with Pyrogel® XTE, barged through a typhoon, and installed in Castellón, Spain — supporting a €90M margin investment.
Read the case study
District-energy steam network at a US university campus.
A US university district-energy network used Pyrogel® XTE on 13 mi of underground pipe and 116 vaults — recovered capacity, avoided a $4M boiler, cut per-vault energy cost ~13×.
Read the case study
Ethylene pipeline at a petrochemical site in northwest France.
3.1 km cold-service ethylene pipeline in France pre-insulated with Cryogel® Z + 500 Cryogel® pipe supports — no icing post-startup, temperature drop below estimate.
Read the case study
Fluid catalytic cracking unit on the US Gulf Coast.
Pyrogel® restored continuous thermal performance on a 50-in FCCU reactor overhead line on the Gulf Coast — eliminating cold spots that risked a multimillion-dollar coking shutdown.
Read the case study
Isomerization tower at a refinery in Washington, USA.
A 120-ft isomerization tower for a Washington refinery was pre-insulated in 3 days with Pyrogel® XTE — meeting a 5-day post-arrival deadline with zero late penalties.
Read the case study
LNG liquefaction export facility on the US Gulf Coast.
Cryogel® Z replaced cellular-glass inner layer on Gulf Coast LNG trains 1 & 2 — commissioned earlier with a hybrid system, prompting full Cryogel® Z spec on train 3.
Read the case study
Refinery sitewide PMI program in California, USA.
During a California refinery’s PMI program, Pyrogel® XTE replaced cal-sil sitewide for hydrophobic CUI defense and post-inspection reusability — 50% of cal-sil removed was too damaged to reuse.
Read the case study
Refinery sitewide reinsulation in Arkansas, USA.
Despite heavy rainfall during a 45-day TAR, Pyrogel® XTE allowed an Arkansas refinery to restart before jacketing was complete — closing the insulation phase 8 days ahead of schedule.
Read the case study
Slug catchers at a gas-processing plant in West Texas, USA.
Pyrogel® XTF protected slug catchers at a remote West Texas gas plant — combined thermal and PFP in one install, held the end-of-project schedule, and reusable for inspection.
Read the case study
Central steam plant on the US Gulf Coast.
A thin Pyrogel® overwrap on a Gulf Coast steam header acted as a non-return valve for water — recovered millions of dollars of margin lost to weather-driven steam-quality collapse.
Read the case study
Styrene reactor at a polystyrene plant in Connecticut, USA.
Pyrogel® XTE replaced cellular glass on a Connecticut styrene reactor — hot-installed in 2017, stable through agitation and thermal cycling, restoring agitator-gearbox maintenance access.
Read the case study
Open-pit copper mine in the Atacama region of Chile.
Pyrogel® XTE protected fire-suppression water lines at a ~3,000 m Andes copper mine — helicopter-delivered, thin format covered all pipe sizes, saved >$10k in logistics.
Read the case study
Aluminium refinery tube-digestion piperack in Queensland, Australia.
Pyrogel® XTE replaced failing mineral wool on a 300 °C aluminium refinery piperack in Australia — sustained thermal performance and stable process control in an aggressive environment.
Read the case study
Ethylene liquid disposition line at a petrochemical complex in Malaysia.
Cryogel® Z 10 mm — ~258,000 ft² — insulated a 4.2 km ethylene line in Malaysia including a 400 m underground tunnel with 50 mm clearance, holding 10 °C ΔT end-to-end.
Read the case study
Butadiene sphere tanks at a petrochemical complex in Malaysia.
Two butadiene spheres in Malaysia were protected with 3 × 10 mm Pyrogel® XTF — 2-hr UL 1709 PFP plus condensation control, completed in 6 weeks with final approval after two inspections.
Read the case study
LNG-fueled cruise ships built in Germany.
Cryogel® Z replaced PIR on LNG fuel lines of 7 German-built cruise ships — zero warranty claims, zero call-backs, zero inspection remarks across the program.
Read the case study
Catalyst regeneration line at a petrochemical plant in Antwerp, Belgium.
Pyrogel® XTE replaced wet mineral wool on a cyclic-service catalyst regeneration line in Antwerp — stabilized the process and became the site standard for all high-CUI-risk applications.
Read the case study