Design of passive insulation system and optimization of thermal insulation material for deep in-situ condition-preserved coring

In order to help establish a new theory of deep rock mechanics and better guide the development of deep engineering, it is crucial to develop a deep in-situ condition preserved coring device capable of obtaining cores while maintaining their original in-situ temperature and pressure conditions. To achieve insulation functionality within a compact design, a passive insulation system must be developed for such coring devices. Considering the size constraints and thermal insulation requirements, a passive thermal insulation system combining a vacuum layer and an insulating material layer has been designed in this work. Epoxy resin was selected as the insulation material due to its high compressive strength and low thermal conductivity. The type and dosage of curing agents, as well as the curing process with epoxy resin, were optimized. The ideal resin achieved a compressive strength of 241.03 MPa and a thermal conductivity as low as 0.25 W/m·K. Additionally, it exhibited excellent thermal stability and a high decomposition temperature. Under high temperature and high-pressure water conditions simulating deep-earth environments, the epoxy resin’s maximum water absorption was below 0.7%. The insulation layer could effectively minimize heat exchange between the core and the external environment by up to 19.01%. These findings provide a significant contribution to the advancement of passive insulation systems for deep in-situ core drilling operations. Document Type: Original article Cited as: Yang, J., Bai, H., He, Z., Yu, B., Xie, H. Design of passive insulation system and optimization of thermal insulation material for deep in-situ condition-preserved coring. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2025, 15(2): 99-111. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2025.02.03