Method of manufacturing spacers for pipe-in-pipe systems and spacer for a pipe-in-pipe structure
A method manufacturing a spacer for a pipe-in-pipe system includes mixing aerogel particles with a polymer to form a mixture in which the particles are dispersed in the polymer. The resulting mixture is moulded and the polymer is solidified to form the spacer or a component of the spacer, in which the dispersed, particles are suspended in a matrix of the solidified polymer.
1. A method of manufacturing a spacer for a pipe-in-pipe system, the method comprising:
mixing a filler of aerogel particles with a polymer to form a mixture in which the aerogel particles are dispersed in the polymer; and
moulding the mixture and solidifying the polymer to form the spacer or a component of the spacer, in which the dispersed aerogel particles are suspended in a matrix of the solidified polymer, wherein the polymer is a thermoset and is solidified at a temperature of from 30° C. to 250° C.
2. The method of claim 1 , comprising injection-moulding the mixture.
3. The method of claim 1 , comprising pouring the mixture into a mould cavity.
4. The method of claim 1 , comprising mixing the aerogel particles with the polymer when the polymer is in a liquid form.
5. The method of claim 4 , comprising heating and/or catalysing the polymer when solidifying the polymer after moulding the mixture.
6. The method of claim 4 , comprising melting the polymer and mixing the aerogel particles with the molten polymer.
7. The method of claim 1 , comprising mixing the aerogel particles with the polymer when the polymer is in a granular form, and then melting the polymer.
8. The method of claim 6 comprising cooling the mixture when solidifying the polymer after moulding the mixture.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aerogel particles comprise polyimide aerogel particles.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aerogel particles have a diameter of between 5 μm and 50 μm.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the aerogel particles have a diameter of between 25 μm and 125 μm.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aerogel particles constitute between 5% and 50% of the mixture by volume.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the aerogel particles constitute between 10% and 30% of the mixture by volume.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the filler is mixed with the polymer at a temperature of from −50° C. to 400° C.
15. The method of claim 14 , the filler is mixed with the polymer at a temperature of from −50° C. to 200° C.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the filler is mixed with the polymer at a pressure of from 1×10 −7 MPa to 350 MPa.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the filler is mixed with the polymer at a pressure of from 1×10 −7 MPa to 0.101 MPa.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer is solidified at a pressure of from 1×10 −7 MPa to 350 MPa.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the polymer is solidified at a pressure of from 1×10 −7 MPa to 0.101 MPa.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer is selected from: epoxy, nylon, polyester, vinyl ester, polypropylene, or dicyclopentadiene.
21. A pipe-in-pipe structure made by a method as defined in claim 1 .