Adiabatic Performance of Layered Insulating Materials for Bulk LH2Storage Tanks

>> One of the most feasible solution for reducing the excessive energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission is usage of more efficient fuel such as hydrogen. As is well known, there are three viable technologies for storing hydrogen fuel: compressed gas, metal hydride absorption, and cryogenic liquid. In these technologies, the storage for liquid hydrogen has better energy density by weight than other storage methods. However, the cryogenic liquid storage has a significant disadvantage of boiling losses. That is, high performance of thermal insulation systems must be studied for reducing the boiling losses. This paper presents an experimental study on the effective thermal conductivities of the composite layered insulation with aerogel blankets(Cryogel ® Z and Pyrogel ® XT-E) and Multi-layer insulation(MLI). The aerogel blankets are known as high porous materials and the good insulators within a soft vacuum range(10 -3 ~ 1 Torr). Also, MLI is known as the best insulator within a high vacuum range(<10 -6 ~ 10 -3 Torr). A vertical axial cryogenic experimental apparatus was designed to investigate the thermal performance of the composite layered insulators under cryogenic conditions as well as consist of a cold mass tank, a heat absorber, annular vacuum space, and an insulators space. The composite insulators were laminated in the insulator space that height was 50 mm. In this study, the effective thermal conductivities of the materials were evaluated by measuring boil-off rate of liquid nitrogen and liquid argon in the cold mass tank.