Foamed insulation coating on pipes and methods therefor

1. A method of providing a foamed insulation coating on at least a portion of a pipe, the method comprising:

extruding a melt stream over at least the portion of the pipe, the melt stream comprising a matrix polymer and expandable fillers in an unexpanded state, the melt stream being maintained at a sufficiently high temperature to maintain the matrix polymer in extrudable form and at a sufficiently high pressure to maintain the expandable fillers in the unexpanded state; and

permitting the expandable fillers in the extruded melt stream to expand into an expanded state at a lower pressure and permitting the matrix polymer to set, to form the foamed insulation coating.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the matrix polymer comprises a thermoplastic selected from the group consisting of: polyimides, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resins, acetals, chlorinated polyethers, fluorocarbons, polyamides (i.e., nylons), polycarbonates, polyolefins (e.g., polyethylenes, polypropylenes, chlorinated or fluorinated polyolefins, and copolymers thereof), polystyrenes and vinyls (e.g., polyvinyl chloride), thermoplastic polyurethanes and polyureas, and mixtures thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising metering the expandable fillers in the unexpanded state into the melt stream, at a controlled rate, during the extruding.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the melt stream is extruded into a mould positioned about at least the portion of the pipe.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the melt stream is extruded over an inner anti corrosion coating covering at least the portion of the pipe.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the melt stream is maintained at a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 280° C.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the melt stream is maintained at a pressure above 30 bars.

8. The method of claim 1 where the density of insulation layer results in the range of 200 kg/m3 to 750 kg/m3.

9. The method of claim 1 where the thermal conductivity of insulation layer results in the range of 0.030 W/mK to 0.160 W/mK.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the expandable fillers comprise expandable thermoplastic microspheres, having one single or various types of expandable fillers with different expandable dimensions.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the expandable thermoplastic microspheres are comprised of a thermoplastic material selected from the group consisting of nitrile, acrylic or halogenated resins and their co-polymers (e.g., poly acrylonitrile-co-methacrylonitrile-co-methyl methacrylate or polyacrilonytrile-co-vinylidene chloride-co-methyl methacrylate), acrylic-modified polystyrene or styrene/methyl methacrylate and fluoro-polymers, and combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the melt stream further comprises at least one additive.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the at least one additive is an adhesion promoter, an anti-oxidant, a UV stabilizer, a colorant, a curing agent or a hardener.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising preparing the melt stream using at least a first master batch, the first master batch including at least the expandable fillers in an unexpanded state in solid form, wherein preparing the melt stream comprises mixing the first master batch with the matrix polymer in solid form and melting the mixture under controlled temperature and pressure conditions to inhibit expansion of the expandable fillers.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein preparing the melt stream further comprises mixing the first master batch and the matrix polymer with a second master batch.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the matrix polymer is provided in solid form as a third master batch.