Rotating Impregnation of Aluminum Silicate Aerogel Felt for Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felts have poor mechanical properties and are difficult to produce on a large scale continuously, limiting their application in high-temperature thermal insulation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the impregnation of aluminum silicate fibers with a silica sol in a rotating impregnation reactor, followed by aging, solvent replacement, and drying, to produce a roll-shaped aerogel felt that can be formed into sheets or plates as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If aluminum silicate fiber felt is used as reinforcement for high-temperature aerogel insulation, then thermal insulation performance at high temperature is improved, but mechanical properties (strength and toughness) deteriorate due to high brittleness and poor tensile properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses aluminum silicate fiber felt as a composite reinforcement material embedded within the aerogel matrix. This composite structure combines the high-temperature stability of aluminum silicate fibers with the low thermal conductivity of aerogel, achieving both thermal insulation performance and mechanical strength suitable for high-temperature applications.
2Strength
If aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt is produced using conventional methods, then mechanical properties are maintained, but large-scale continuous production becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent prepares the aerogel precursor slurry with optimized composition and viscosity before impregnation, and pre-treats the aluminum silicate fiber felt to ensure uniform impregnation. This preliminary preparation enables continuous production while maintaining mechanical properties, as the process parameters are predetermined and controlled.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a continuous impregnation process where the aerogel precursor slurry is continuously fed and impregnated into the moving aluminum silicate fiber felt. This continuous action eliminates batch processing interruptions and enables large-scale continuous production while maintaining consistent mechanical properties throughout the product.
3Strength
If aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt is produced in sheet or plate shape, then mechanical properties are maintained, but form flexibility deteriorates as it cannot be bent during use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent produces the aerogel felt in a thin, flexible form factor that can be bent and conform to various surfaces. The aluminum silicate fiber reinforcement provides structural integrity while the thin aerogel matrix maintains flexibility, enabling the material to be adapted to different application geometries without compromising mechanical strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables the production of aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt with improved mechanical properties, allowing for continuous large-scale production and flexible formability to meet various high-temperature thermal insulation requirements.
Implementation Method 1
the central shaft of the reactor drives the aluminum silicate fiber felt to rotate and the silica sol obtained in step (1) is slowly injected into the surface of the fiber felt through the injection holes to conduct the impregnation
Implementation Method 2
placing the fiber felt-gel composite obtained in step (3) in absolute ethanol to conduct solvent replacement multiple times to remove excess water in the fiber felt-gel composite
Implementation Method 3
drying the fiber felt-gel composite obtained in step (4) to obtain the aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a preparation method of an aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt, including the following steps: mixing orthosilicate, ethanol, and water evenly, adding an NH4F solution and ammonia water successively, and stirring evenly to obtain a silica sol; winding an aluminum silicate fiber felt into a roll and mounting on a rotatable central shaft of a impregnation reaction kettle; where a plurality of injection holes are equidistantly provided on a surface of the reaction kettle; the central shaft of the reaction kettle drives the aluminum silicate fiber felt to rotate and slowly inject the silica sol into the surface of the fiber felt through the injection holes to conduct the impregnation; allowing the fiber felt-gel composite to stand to conduct aging; placing the aged fiber felt-gel composite in absolute ethanol to conduct solvent replacement to remove moisture; and drying to obtain the aluminum silicate fiber-reinforced aerogel felt.