NSTF VACUUM INSULATED PIPELINES

Project name: NSTF Vacuum insulated pipelines

Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Client name: Fieldhouse Engineering

Sectors: Vacuum

Year of completion: Ongoing

We were directly approached by the client, with whom we had worked many times before, to support them on a vacuum project at the National Satellite Testing Facility (NSTF) on the Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire.

With construction still underway, the NSTF is a huge new site that will be dedicated to the testing of space payloads and satellites up to a weight of 7,000kg in advance of their launch, and is set to become a hub of UK space technology research.

The brief was to manufacture insulated pipelines using CNC machining and TIG welding based on Fieldhouse’s own design and technical drawings. We were also responsible for providing assistance with installation, pressure testing and helium leak detection.

We worked with the client to research and develop fabrication options based on their design, and then manufactured a 70m length of vacuum insulated line in sections, a 70m-long pipe for the transfer of gaseous nitrogen and a 30m-long exhaust line. To simulate a space environment, we ensured the insulated line remained sterile so that it could maintain the low level of vacuum needed to insulate the inner line from heat loads caused by convection.

Since we were working in tandem with the construction of the multi-million-pound wider facility, we had to adhere to strict health and safety standards while carrying out the installation on site, as well as ensuring all work was completed in line with the prescribed risk evaluation and mitigation strategies.