Summary of Activities for Nondestructive Evaluation of Insulation in Cryogenic Tanks

This project was undertaken to investigate methods to non-intrusively determine the existence and density of perlite insulation in the annular region of the cryogenic storage vessels, specifically considering the Launch Complex 39 hydrogen tanks at Kennedy Space Center. Lack of insulation in the tan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports
Main Author Arens, Ellen
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published Hampton NASA/Langley Research Center 01.01.2012
Subjects
Accident prevention
Cryogenic storage
Density
Hydrogen storage
Insulation
Nondestructive testing
Perlite
Safety
Storage tanks
Storage vessels
Tanks
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Summary:This project was undertaken to investigate methods to non-intrusively determine the existence and density of perlite insulation in the annular region of the cryogenic storage vessels, specifically considering the Launch Complex 39 hydrogen tanks at Kennedy Space Center. Lack of insulation in the tanks (as existed in the pad B hydrogen tank at Kennedy Space Center) results in an excessive loss of commodity and can pose operational and safety risks if precautions are not taken to relieve the excessive gas build-up. Insulation with a density that is higher than normal (due to settling or compaction) may also pose an operational and safety risk if the insulation prevents the system from moving and responding to expansions and contractions as fluid is removed and added to the tank.