List of Standards for Piping Insulation Materials.


Abhijit.S.Musale

www.abhijitsmusale.com | July.2025



Keywords

Piping Insulation
Insulation Standards
Insulation Material
Standard Practices

Introduction

The objective of this article is to provide a list of relevant standards for piping insulation materials. Various types of insulation materials are used to insulate piping systems in process plants. Some of the standards listed here provide material properties that can be used for insulation thickness calculations, while others describe testing methods for insulation materials. Additionally, certain standards outline recommended practices for the selection of insulation materials. At present, this list includes only ASME standards. This list is not exhaustive, and standards from other institutes may also be included in future updates.


This article provides a list of insulation-related standards that can be helpful to engineers while designing or specifying insulation materials for piping in process plants. The list may be useful for referencing insulation material properties for insulation thickness calculations, preparing specifications for thermal insulation materials, and verifying whether vendor offers comply with the required material property as per standards. Many of the standards listed here also describe methods for testing various properties of insulation materials. Currently, only ASME standards have been included. In the future, additional insulation-related standards will be added to this list.

Table 1 : List of Standards for Piping Insulation Materials.
Standard Practices For Insulation Thickness Calculation
ASTM C680 Standard Practice for Determination of Heat Gain or Loss and the Surface Temperatures of Insulated Pipe and Equipment Systems by the Use of a Computer Program.
ISO 12241 Thermal insulation for building equipment and industrial Installations. Calculation Rules.
VDI 2055 Thermal insulation of heated and refrigerated operational installations in the industry and the building services - Calculation Rules.
Insulation Material Standards
ASTM C533 Standard Specification for Calcium Silicate Block and Pipe Thermal Insulation
ASTM C552 Standard Specification for Cellular Glass Thermal Insulation
ASTM C534 Standard Specification for Preformed Flexible Elastomeric Cellular Thermal Insulation Sheet Tubular Form.
ASTM C612 Standard Specification for Mineral Fiber Block and Board Thermal Insulation.
ASTM C547 Standard Specification for Mineral Fiber Pipe Insulation.
ASTM C1427 Specification for Preformed Flexible Cellular Polyolethin Thermal Insulation in Sheet and Tubular Form
ASTM C591 Standard Specification for Unfaced Preformed Rigid Cellular Polyisocyanurate Thermal Insulation
ASTM C578 Standard Specification for Rigid, Cellular Polystyrene Thermal Insulation
ASTM D1056 Standard Specification for Flexible Cellular Materials—Sponge or Expanded Rubber.
ASTM C610 Standard Specification for Molded Expanded Perlite Block and Pipe Thermal Insulation
Standard Practices For Insulation Material
ASTM C447 Standard Practice for Estimating the Maximum Use Temperature of Thermal Insulations.
ASTM C390 Standard Practice for Sampling and Acceptance of Thermal Insulation Lots
ASTM C450 Standard Practice for Prefabrication and Field Fabrication of Thermal Insulating Fitting Covers for NPS Piping, Vessel Lagging, and Dished Head Segments
ASTM C585 Standard Practice for Inner and Outer Diameters of Thermal Insulation for Nominal Sizes of Pipe and Tubing
ASTM C1045 Standard Practice for Calculating Thermal Transmission Properties Under SteadyState Conditions
ASTM C1058 Standard Practice for Selecting Temperatures for Evaluating and Reporting Thermal Properties of Thermal Insulation
ASTM C1057 Standard Practice for Determination of Skin Contact Temperature from Heated Surfaces Using A Mathematical Model and Thermesthesiometer
ASTM C795 Standard Specification for Thermal Insulation for Use in Contact with Austenitic Stainless Steel
ASTM F683 Standard Practice for Selection and Application of Thermal Insulation for Piping and Machinery
IS 14164 Industrial Application and finishing of thermal insulation materials at temperature above -80 DegC and up to 750 DegC- code for practice.
Standards for Testing Insulation Properties and Performance
ASTM C421 Standard Test Method for Tumbling Friability of Preformed Block-Type and Preformed Pipe Covering Type Thermal Insulation
ASTM C167 Standard Test Methods for Thickness and Density of Blanket or Batt Thermal Insulations
ASTM C356 Standard Test Method for Linear Shrinkage of Preformed High-Temperature Thermal Insulation Subjected to Soaking Heat
ASTM C518 Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Heat Flow Meter Apparatus.
ASTM C177 Standard Test Method for Steady-State Heat Flux Measurements and Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Guarded-Hot-Plate Apparatus
ASTM C411 Standard Test Method for Hot-Surface Performance of High-Temperature Thermal Insulation
ASTM C165 Standard Test Method for Measuring Compressive Properties of Thermal Insulations
ASTM D1621 Standard Test Method for Compressive Properties Of Rigid Cellular Plastics
ASTM C203 Standard Test Methods for Breaking Load and Flexural Properties of Block-Type Thermal Insulation
ASTM E96 Standard Test Methods for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials
ASTM C209 Standard Test Methods for Cellulosic Fiber Insulating Board
ASTM C240 Standard Test Methods for Testing Cellular Glass Insulation Block
ASTM C272 Standard Test Method for Water Absorption of Core Materials for Sandwich Constructions
ASTM C1104 Standard Test Method for Determining the Water Vapor Sorption of Unfaced Mineral Fiber Insulation
ASTM C1559 Standard Test Method for Determining Wicking of Fibrous Glass Blanket Insulation (Aircraft Type)
ASTM C302 Standard Test Method for Density and Dimensions of Preformed Pipe-Covering-Type Thermal Insulation
ASTM C303 Standard Test Method for Dimensions and Density of Preformed Block and Board–Type Thermal Insulation
ASTM E84 Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials
ASTM C335 Standard Test Method for Steady-State Heat Transfer Properties of Horizontal Pipe Insulation
ASTM C692 Standard Test Method for Evaluating the Influence of Thermal Insulations on External Stress Corrosion Cracking Tendency of Austenitic Stainless Steel
ASTM C871 Standard Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Thermal Insulation Materials for Leachable Chloride, Fluoride, Silicate, and Sodium Ions
ASTM C1114 Standard Test Method for Steady-State Thermal Transmission Properties by Means of the Thin-Heater Apparatus
ASTM D518 Standard Test Method for Rubber Deterioration—Surface Ozone Cracking Outdoors (Triangular Specimens)
ASTM C1304 Standard Test Method for Assessing the Odor Emission of Thermal Insulation Materials
ASTM E90 Standard Test Method for Laboratory Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of Building Partitions and Elements
ASTM C1055 Standard Guide for Heated System Surface Conditions That Produce Contact Burn Injuries
ASTM C446 Test Method for Breaking Load and Calculated Modulus of rupture of preformed insulation for pipes
ASTM C569 Test Method for Indentation Hardness of Preformed Thermal Insulations
ASTM D1622 Test Method for Apparent Density of Rigid Cellular Plastics
Standard For Insulation Terminology
ASTM C168 Standard Terminology Relating to Thermal Insulating Materials