Aerogel beads as cryogenic thermal insulation system
Open accessAbstract
An investigation of the use of aerogel beads as thermal insulation for cryogenic applications was conducted at the Cryogenics Test Laboratory of NASA Kennedy Space Center. Steady-state liquid nitrogen boiloff methods were used to characterize the thermal performance of aerogel beads in comparison with conventional insulation products such as perlite powder and multilayer insulation (MLI). Aerogel beads produced by Cabot Corporation have a bulk density below 100 kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3) and a mean particle diameter of 1 millimeter (mm). The apparent thermal conductivity values of the bulk material have been determined under steady-state conditions at boundary temperatures of approximately 293 and 77 kelvin (K) and at various cold vacuum pressures (CVP). Vacuum levels ranged from 10−5 torr to 760 torr. All test articles were made in a cylindrical configuration with a typical insulation thickness of 25 mm. Temperature profiles through the thickness of the test specimens were also measured. The results showed the performance of the aerogel beads was significantly better than the conventional materials in both soft-vacuum (1 to 10 torr) and no-vacuum (760 torr) ranges. Opacified aerogel beads performed better than perlite powder under high-vacuum conditions. Further studies for material optimization and system application are in progress.
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Scholtens et al. and Fesmire et al. reported conductivity data at various vacuum levels but only at an average temperature of 185 K and lack temperature variation.
“Similarly, Scholtens et al. [77] and Fesmire et al. [32] have reported the conductivity data at various vacuum levels but only at an average temperature of 185 K and lack the temperature variation.”
From Effective thermal conductivity of insulation materials for cryogenic LH2 storage tanks: A review (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
For perlite insulation under high vacuum (P < 0.1 Pa), the solid and radiation contributions to thermal conductivity are fitted by correlations given in the paper.
“The fitted correlations of solid and radiation contributions to perlite insulation are given by:”
From Effective thermal conductivity of insulation materials for cryogenic LH2 storage tanks: A review (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
The Results and Discussion section reports measured apparent thermal conductivity for perlite and says radiation begins to dominate below 100 millitorr. The only equation located calculates the total insulation system’s apparent conductivity; searches for fitted solid and radiation correlations for perlite found none in our copy. No page numbers were available. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Fesmire, J.E., Augustynowicz, S.D., "Insulation Testing Using Cryostat Apparatus With Sleeve," Ad- vances in Cryogenic Engineering, Vol. 45, K[uwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2000, pp. 1683-1690.
- Adams, L.,"Thermal Conductivity ofEvacuated Perlite," inCryogenic Technology Journal of the Cryo- genic Society of America, Vol. 1, No. 6, 1965, pp. 249-251.
- Kaganer, M.G., "Thermal Insulation in Cryogenic Engineering," in Israel Program for Scientific Trans- lations, Inc., IPST Press, Jerusalem, 1969, pp. 114-116.
- Fesmire, J.E., Rouanet, S., and Ryu, J., "Aerogel-Based Cryogenic Superinsulation," in Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, Vol. 44, Plenum Press, New York, 1998, pp. 219-226.
Cited by
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Effective thermal conductivity of insulation materials for cryogenic LH2 storage tanks: A review
Ratnakar, R. R., Sun, Z., & Balakotaiah, V. (2023) · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy · doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.11.130 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
AN APPARATUS TO MEASURE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF SPRAY-ON FOAM INSULATION
Barrios, M., Sciver, S. W. V., & Weisend, J. G. (2010) · AIP Conference Proceedings · doi:10.1063/1.3422463 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fesmire, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Kennedy Space Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fesmire, J. E.
- Venue
- AIP Conference Proceedings
- Publisher
- AIP
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 613
- Pages
- 1541-1548
- ISSN
- 0094-243X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1609476054
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.65
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- AIP conference proceedings (publishedVersion)
- NASA STI Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Aerogels and thermal insulation
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Applied Mathematics › Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory
- Keywords
- cryogenic insulation, thermal conductivity, multilayer insulation, temperature profiles
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