Tank Insulation Market Expected to Reach $9.0 Billion by 2031—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Tank Insulation Market," The tank insulation market size was $5.3 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $9.0 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2022 to 2031.

Tank insulation is a material or blend of materials that are used to add a protecting cover to industrial tanks and cuts the heat loss or heat gain from tank surfaces that are operating at temperatures above or below the surrounding temperature.

Rockwool also known as mineral wool is an effective tank insulation material that is produced through spinning of molten rock stream, steel furnace slag, and other recycled materials such as basalt, dolomite and similar rocks. Rockwool tank insulation material basically consists of volcanic rock and 70% recycled materials. Rockwool offers high mechanical resistance, improved thermal resistance, and fire safety making it viable to be used as tank insulation material.  Rockwool tank insulation is capable of offering passive fire protection and owing to the incombustible nature of rockwool it can be effectively used for insulation of industrial tanks that generally operates at 1000 °C. Moreover, rockwool tank insulation limits the spreading of the flame inside the industrial tanks. All these factors have escalated the demand and use of rockwool for tank insulation is further driving the demand of the global market.

However, the risk associated with the use of tank insulation products in interior tank systems is expected to hamper the market growth. For instance, the capillary active insulation system (type of tank insulation) is widely preferred for tank insulation in the oil and gas, chemical, and food industries. This tank insulation system is used mostly for thermal insulation of storage tanks and mixing tanks. However, interstitial condensation risk associated with tank insulation systems is anticipated to hamper the market growth.

Fiberglass insulation is cost effective and effective tank insulation material owing to its compression strength. It helps effectively to stop the outflow of heat or cold from the tank surface, consequential in improved energy efficiency. In addition, cryogenic tank insulation is utmost important in order to prevent heat loss. Fiberglass being an effective solution makes it viable to be used for insulation of cryogenic tanks. Fiberglass is considered as effective tank insulation material making it widely opted material for insulation of tanks used across commercial industries. In addition, some industries such as oil & gas and chemical industry handling ammonia require proper insulation material. Fiberglass being effective solution makes it suitable be used for insulation of tanks that generally deal with hazardous chemicals. All these factors collectively are anticipated to offer new growth opportunities in the forecast period.

The tank insulation market is segmented on the basis of material type, temperature, end-use industry and region.

By material type, the market is segregated into polyurethane, fiberglass, rockwool, elastomeric foam, expanded polystyrene, and others. The polyurethane material type dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 30% of the total share. Polyurethane is used widely for insulation of transportable tanks including tanks for transporting liquid CO2 gas. Usually, polyurethane tank insulation is used in combination with vapor screen and plate finishes that further improvise insulation characteristics. Polyurethane tank insulation is easy to install and can be installed on existing tank insulation. Cryogenic tanks that are generally installed on transport vehicles need insulation products that are lightweight. Polyurethane being lightweight tend to minimize the fuel costs in transport is the key tank insulation market trend. Polyurethane insulation properties are superior as considered with other insulation materials. In addition, polyurethane insulation is suitable to be used with a variety of tank surfaces such as pre-coated tanks, aluminum storage tanks, stainless steel tanks, and fiber-reinforced polymer tanks.

By temperature, the market is segregated into cold insulation and hot insulation. The hot insulation segment dominated the global tank insulation market share in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 58% of the total share. Insulation of hot water tanks is of utmost importance as improper insulation leads to loss of heat further driving the need for frequent heating and loss of product quality. In addition, hot insulation further reduces fuel consumption, operational cost, minimizes capacity requirements, and reduces requirement for heating. Key players in the tank insulation market are offering diverse portfolio of insulation products for hot tank insulation that in turn has eased the consumers to choose appropriate insulation material. In addition, tank insulation manufacturers are emphasizing more on production of effective hot insulation products that are suited to be used with larger area tanks and vessels driving the tank insulation market growth.

By end-use industry, the global tank insulation market is segmented into chemical, oil and gas, food and beverages, energy and power, and others. The oil and gas end-user dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 32% of the total share. Use of tank insulation products in oil and gas industry eases processing of oil, gas and other process fluids. In addition, it increases sustainability, improvise safe working environment, and cuts down maintenance cost of oil and gas storage tanks as these tanks tend to corrode under harsh environmental conditions without use of insulation products. All these factors have further escalated the use and demand for tank insulation materials. Moreover, low thermal conductivity of tank insulation materials maximizes energy efficiency in oil and gas industry; thereby improving product yield and profit associated in the industry.

Region-wise, the tank insulation market analysis is carried out across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific tank insulation market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Elastomeric foam is capable of offering high insulation across cold insulation tanks is the key market trend. In addition, low water vapor permeability and closed cell structure of elastomeric foam makes it viable to be used for insulation of cryogenic tanks. Low thermal conductivity, thermal performance at elevated operating temperature makes its viable to be used for insulation of wide assortment of tanks drives the demand for the tank insulation market in Asia-Pacific. Light weight and environment friendly characteristics of glass wool makes it suitable to be used as tank insulation material is the key market trend. In addition, owing to high thermal insulation property further reduces negative environmental impact and improvises to save energy. Porous and elastic structure of glass wool offers effective acoustic attenuation property for insulated tanks that generally operates at temperature of 300°C.

Key players operating in the global tank insulation market include ROCKWOOL A/S, BASF SE, Armacell, Arch Tech, Gilsulate, Johns Manville, Kingspan, Omkar PUF, Isolatie Combinatie, and Cabot.

COVID-19 analysis

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and economy around the globe. The global tank insulation market has been negatively affected amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The global tank market has been negatively affected amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The major end-users of tank insulation include chemical, oil & gas, food & beverages, and energy & power. Tank insulation is used for thermal protection in oil & gas industry. Oil and gas industry is highest energy consumer sector.

For instance, heat loss from oil & gas sector accounts for 60% in sunny climatic condition while it accounts for 50% in cold climatic conditions. Active thermal insulation products are used in order to minimize heat loss by oil & gas external walls. Oil & gas industry is prone to economic change. For instance, emergence of COVID-19 had a significant impact on the oil & gas industry owing to change in economic trends across the globe. This in turn has negatively impacted the growth of the tank insulation industry during the pandemic. In addition, outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the global economy, global trade, and oil & gas companies, thereby negatively affecting the oil & gas sector. All these factors had a negative impact on the global tank insulation market in the pandemic situation.

However, oil & gas industry is anticipated to regain its growth post the pandemic, owing to high potential of jobs across oil & gas industry coupled with other recovery measures such as transformation toward sustainability and digitalization.

Key findings of the study

• The rockwool material type is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 5.9% from 2022 to 2031.
• The hot insulation segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 5.6% from 2022 to 2031.
• The chemical end-use industry is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.0% from 2022 to 2031.
• Asia-Pacific garnered the highest share of 37% in 2021 and is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 5.9%.