Life Cycle Assessment of Aerogels

in Aerospace Applications 1

Dieter Van Hauwermeiren Material selection in Mechanical Design 2019-2020

Overview

1. What is an aerogel?

2. Life Cycle Assessment of aerogels in aerospace industry

• Raw materials
• Manufacturing
• Packaging / distribution
• Use
• Disposal & recycling

3. Conclusion

2
1. What is an aerogel?
First: what is a gel?

Gel = liquid particles dispersed in a solid medium. Capillary action keeps liquid ‘trapped’ in solid
network which creates the typical ‘jelly-like’ structure

Aerogel = the intact, porous solid framework of a gel (Basically a gel without the liquid but intact solid
structure) [1]

A few properties:
• Consists of 99.8 % air!
• Very low density (0.003 – 0.35 g/cm³)
• High melting point ( > 1200°C)
• Very low thermal conductivity (0.015 W/mK)

3
2. LCA: raw materials
• Term ‘aerogel’ refers to a specific nano/micro-structure → not
limited to one material.

• Possible raw materials: silica, metal oxides, organic materials

(gelatin, rubbers), polymers, … → many possible ‘flavours’!

• Mostly used: silica (= SO2):

• Extracted via sand mining [2]:
• Land deterioration
• Impact on ground water
• Loss of biodiversity
• Small dust particles: cause lung disease (silicosis) and lung
cancer [4]

• Alternative: silica obtained from rice husks (agricultural waste

product) → use of organic product as base material [3]
4
2. LCA: manufacturing

• How to create aerogel? Evaporate the liquid phase of a gel by

drying it → only solid structure will remain (not as simple as it
sounds)

• ‘Normal’ (= atmospheric) drying not suitable: evaporation of

liquid phase induces (capillary) stresses on solid structure →
solid structure collapses (formation of ‘xerogel’)

• Different technique necessary: ‘supercritical drying’ (see next

slide)

• Note: new production technique available: drying at ambient

conditions → no need for pressure container → no limitation on
material’s dimensions [5]

5
2. LCA: manufacturing
Supercritical drying process explained [4]:

No surface No stresses
Heating gel tension of liquid
Liquid can
Silica gel past critical above phase on Aerogel
be removed
point critical solid
point structure

6
2. LCA: manufacturing
Gel preparation
• Low energy consumption: e.g. PUR
insulation = 105 MJ/kg [20]

• Aerogel has very low density →

volumetric energy consumption
significantly lower than other insulation
materials

• Energy consumption and CO2

production biggest for gel preparation
process

Production process

7
2. LCA: packaging / transportation
• Aerogel very low density → low transport cost

• Environmental impact of transport neglible compared

to impact of manufacturing/disposal [7]

• Silica aerogel: brittle nature and dust production [7]

→ extra packaging measures needed to prevent
damage

• Alternative: design of composite aerogel blankets

• reduces packaging cost (less protection needed)
• disadvantages:
• density ↓ → fuel cost ↑
• composite recyclability ↓

8
2. LCA: use
Why is aerogel suitable for spaceflight applications? Three important criteria [8]:

• Thermal cycling resistance: large temperature differences in spaceflight → thermal stresses can
cause cracks and increase brittleness

• Gamma-ray radiation resistance: high energy radiation alters crystal structure and affects termal
properties of material [9]

• Thermal vacuum outgassing: trapped gasses can escape and produce condensation → block
camera lenses or damage electronics [10]

• Silica aerogel used and tested by NASA → aerogel = ‘space-worthy’ material

9
2. LCA: use
NASA Mars Rover ‘Sojourner’ (1997): battery pack
insulation [11]

• Temperatures on Mars: -99°C at night to +20°C

during daytime

• Battery pack thermal protection: aerogel

insulation for ‘Warm Electronic Boxes’ (= WEBs)

• Design operation temperature of batteries: -40°C

and +40°C

• Constant value of 21°C was achieved using

aerogel insulation

10
2. LCA: use
NASA Stardust mission: hypervelocity particle capture [11]
• Goal of mission: fly-by with ‘comet 81P/Wild 2’ and collect ‘coma’ samples (= comet dust)
• Tennis-racket shaped aerogel collector designed to capture dust particles (travelling at 6
km/s)
• Dust particles perfectly preserved during exposure to space and re-entry in Earth’s
atmosphere
• Design condition: extremely low density (aerogel property) to create minimal shockwave
upon impact

Collector Dust particle trajectories

inside aerogel collector

11
2. LCA: use
Ongoing research to use aerogel in (commercial) aviation:

• Polymer (polyamide) aerogel antenna’s [13][17]

Polyamide aerogel antenna

• Polymer aerogel for aircraft’s interior: fuel cost reduction of 1 billion $ (per year) by replacing 10% of all
plastic onboard with aerogel alternatives (fleet of 750 aircraft) [5].

12
2. LCA: disposal / recycling
• Silica aerogels usually disposed via landfill (→ CO2 and methane production) → need
for better alternatives [7]

• Recyclable aerogel examples:

• Spaceloft®: aerogel blankets to absorb oil (from spills) → power generation in WTE
(Waste To Energy) plants (combustion of oil + blanket) [7]
• Paper waste successfully transformed into a biodegradable aerogel [19]
• PET aerogels from recycled bottles [14]
• Scrapped care tires converted into a low-cost aerogel [15]

13
3. Conclusion

• Aerogels have a wide range of unique properties that are promising for many (aerospace)
applications
• Aerogels are used primarily in spaceflight but companies and research labs are developing
new production techniques that lower production cost and increase product dimensions so
the use of aerogel materials will be possible for commercial aircraft, UAV’s and other
aviation applications
• Silica as raw material is not environmentally friendly but the use of recycled silica would
substantially lower the environmental impact
• The use of (recycled) non-silica aerogels can help to create biodegradable materials and
lower the environmental impact even further

14
References
[1] http://www.aerogel.org/?p=3 visited on 19/04/2020
[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/world-running-out-sand-resources-concrete-2018-6?r=US&IR=T visited on 17/04/2020
[3] Silica aerogel derived from rice husk: an aggregate replacer for lightweight and thermally insulating cement-based composites, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 195, pp. 312-322,
2019
[4] Sato, Takashi et al. “Silicosis and lung cancer: current perspectives.” Lung Cancer (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 9, pp.91-101, 2018
[5] http://www.aerogel.org/?p=345 visited on 19/04/2020
[6] http://www.aerogeltechnologies.com/superlight-and-now-supersized-worlds-largest-aerogel-paves-way-for-10x-lighter-plastics/ visited on 17/04/2020
[7] Osman Karatum,1 Md Mainul H. Bhuiya et al, Life Cycle Assessment of Aerogel Manufacture on Small and Large Scales, Journal of industrial ecology, pp. 1365-1377,
[8] C.-H. Yu, S.C.E. Tsang, et al, “Aerogel materials for insulation in buildings”, Materials for Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Buildings, 2010
[9] Helena Rocha, Ugo Lafont, Christopher Semprimoschnig, “Environmental testing and characterization of fibre reinforced silica aerogel materials for Mars exploration”, Acta Astronautica vol.
165, pp. 9–16, 2019
[10] William D. Callister, Jr., “Materials science and engineering an introduction”, pp. 657, 2007
[11] Anwar, Ahmad & Elfiky, Dalia & Hassan, et al, “Outgassing Effect on Spacecraft Structure Materials”, vol. 2. pp. 34-38, 2015
[12] Nadiir Bheekhun, Abd. Rahim Abu Talib, Mohd Roshdi Hassan, “Aerogels in Aerospace: An Overview”, Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, 2013
[13] https://rps.nasa.gov/system/downloadable_items/31_Final_RHU_Fact_Sheet_2016_5-26-16.pdf visited on 19/04/2020
[14] Richard Collins, Bryony Core, “Additive Manufacturing and Lightweight Materials for Aerospace and Defense 2018-2028”
[15] https://phys.org/news/2020-03-world-aerogels-scrap.html visited on 17/04/2020
[16] https://materialdistrict.com/article/pet-aerogel-recycled-bottles/ visited on 18/04/2020
[17] https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/16_Meador_NARI_Seedling_Seminar_6-4-12.pdf visited on 19/04/2020
[18] P. Tsou, STARDUST: A Comet Coma Flyby Sample Return, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
[19] https://inhabitat.com/scientists-turn-mountains-of-paper-waste-into-biodegradable-aerogel/ visited on 17/04/2020
[20] https://www.synbratechnology.com/media/6163/article-2011-02-bioplastics-magazine-a-comparative-lca-of-building-insulation-products.pdf visited on 20/05/2020
15