THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF POWDER INSULATIONS BELOW 180 K
Abstract
We have measured the thermal conductivity of aerogel beads and glass microspheres at average temperatures ranging from 30 K to 180 K. The measuring device consists of two closed, concentric cylinders suspended inside of a vacuum insulated cryostat. The insulation being tested occupies the annular space between the cylinders. A single stage Gifford-McMahon cryocooler, thermally anchored to the outer cylinder, cools the apparatus to a desired temperature range. A heater mounted on the inner cylinder generates uniform heat flux through the insulating material between the two cylinders. During each measurement, a temperature difference of roughly 10 K across the insulation is maintained. Fourier's law of heat conduction is used to relate the temperature difference between the two cylinders and the applied heating power to a bulk effective thermal conductivity of the powder insulation. Data were collected for aerogel beads between 30 K and 80 K and for glass bubbles between 30 K and 180 K. Results are compared to data from the literature.
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The diffusion approximation approach is easy to use and has been widely used to calculate the radiative thermal conductivity of insulation materials such as open- and closed-cell foams, silica aerogel powders, and glass fibers.
“The diffusion approximation approach is easy to use and has been widely used to calculate the radiative thermal conductivity of insulation materials such as openand closed-cell foams [17,53,67,87], silica aerogel powders [10,15,16,73], glass fibers and so forth.”
From Effective thermal conductivity of insulation materials for cryogenic LH2 storage tanks: A review (2023) · cites this paper as [10]
Cites
Equipment and Methods for Cryogenic Thermal Insulation Testing
Fesmire, J. E. (2004) · AIP Conference Proceedings · doi:10.1063/1.1774730 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Thermal Conductivity of Microsphere Cryogenic Insulation
Nayak, A. L., & Tien, C. L. (1977) · Advances in Cryogenic Engineering · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9850-9_27 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
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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
Self-citation
- Authors
- Barrios, M. N., Choi, Y. S., Van Sciver, S. W., Weisend, J. G., Barclay, J., Breon, S., Demko, J., DiPirro, M., Kelley, J. P., Kittel, P., Klebaner, A., Zeller, A., Zagarola, M., Van Sciver, S., Rowe, A., Pfotenhauer, J., Peterson, T., & Lock, J.
- Affiliations
- Florida State University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- AIP Conference Proceedings
- Publisher
- AIP
- Published
- 2008
- Volume
- 985
- Pages
- 788-795
- ISSN
- 0094-243X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1592911794
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 11.41
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- AIP conference proceedings (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Kennedy Space Center
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Aerogels and thermal insulation
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Thermal properties of materials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies
- Keywords
- thermal conductivity, glass microspheres, cryogenic insulation, low-temperature thermal transport, Fourier's law, Gifford-McMahon cryocooler, effective thermal conductivity
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