SBIR Phase I: Flexible high-temperature foam insulation materials mass produced using low-cost extrusion processing

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是推动工业应用（例如管道和其他过程系统）的全柔性高温（在200-400°C范围内运行）绝缘产品的开发。与目前的解决方案（如玻璃纤维和矿棉）相比，该技术提供了性能改进，同时通过更低的制造成本和更容易的安装来降低成本。与建筑保温相比，高温工业保温可以实现更大的节能，使项目投资回报低至1-2年。这将降低食品、造纸、化工、炼油和金属等能源密集型行业的成本和能源负荷。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将利用纳米材料生产一种新型复合绝缘材料，这种材料具有柔性，并且在200°C以上具有高性能。无机材料将提高温度耐久性，而高温特种聚合物将使灵活性。材料将使用大批量化学发泡工艺（如挤出）进行加工，可使用现成的设备进行批量生产，解决成本和吞吐量问题。这项工作解决了一个长期存在的行业挑战，即大规模生产一种完全柔性的高温绝缘材料，使用标准工具和材料，单个人就可以轻松安装。一个关键的活动是将孔径减小到空气平均自由程（~100 nm）以下。这将最小化所有三种形式的传热——传导、对流和辐射，最后一种在高温下变得更加突出。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to advance the development of a fully flexible high-temperature (operating in the 200-400°C range) insulation product for industrial applications (e.g. pipes and other process systems). The proposed technology offers performance improvements compared to current solutions, such as fiberglass and mineral wool, while reducing costs through lower-cost manufacturing and easier installation. High-temperature industrial insulation can achieve significantly greater energy savings versus building insulation, leading to project paybacks as low as 1-2 years. This will reduce costs and energy loads in energy-intensive industries such as food, paper, chemicals, refining and metals.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will utilize nanomaterials to produce a novel composite insulation material that is flexible and delivers high performance above 200°C. The inorganic materials will raise temperature durability while high-temperature specialty polymers will enable flexibility. The materials will be processed using high-volume chemical foaming processes (such as extrusion) scalable into mass production using off-the-shelf equipment, addressing cost and throughput issues. This work addresses a longstanding industry challenge to mass-produce a fully flexible high-temperature insulation material easily installable by a single individual using standard tools and supplies. A key activity is to reduce pore sizes below the mean free path of air (~100 nm). This minimizes all three forms of heat transfer - conduction, convection and radiation, the last of which becomes more prominent at high temperatures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.