US 2026/0110403 A1 · HIGH TEMPERATURE REUSABLE VACUUM-JACKETED INSULATION FOR ROCKET MISSIONS

Abstract

A number of techniques, structures, and materials for thermally insulating a cryogenic propellant tank barrel section are presented. Thermal insulation for a tank, such as tanks for use in space flight missions, may be a dual wall vacuum jacket system where one wall is the propellant tank wall and the other wall is a metallic foil that is welded to portions of the propellant tank wall. The metallic foil may act as a vapor barrier and a vacuum seal. A structural and breathable insulation that is durable and functional in a range from cold to relatively high temperatures may be used to maintain a standoff distance between the two walls. The volume between the propellant tank wall and the metallic foil may be purged with a gas that has a liquefaction temperature greater than that of the cryogenic propellant that will be in the propellant tank during operations.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A reusable, high-temperature cryogenic insulation system for a cryogenic tank, the system comprising:

a tank shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface, wherein the interior surface is configured to contain a cryogenic fluid;
a metallic foil covering at least a portion of the exterior surface of the tank shell;
a gas-permeable thermal insulation occupying a cavity between the exterior surface of the tank shell and the metallic foil;
a gas in the cavity that condenses, via thermal conduction, when the cryogenic fluid is in the cryogenic tank and resultantly creates a vacuum or a reduced pressure in the cavity, wherein the metallic foil has a resilience that allows for a distance between the exterior surface of the tank shell and the metallic foil to change based on the reduced pressure of the gas in the cavity.

1 more element

A method of operating a reusable, high-temperature cryogenic insulation system for a cryogenic tank of a rocket, the method comprising:

providing a gas to a gas-permeable thermal insulation that occupies a cavity between an exterior surface of the cryogenic tank and a metallic foil that overlays the cryogenic tank;
at least partially filling the cryogenic tank with a cryogenic fluid;
allowing the cold temperature of the cryogenic fluid in the cryogenic tank to condense the gas into a liquid so as to create a vacuum or a reduced pressure in the cavity;
launching the rocket while the cryogenic fluid in the cavity remains condensed in the liquid;
allowing the vacuum or the reduced pressure in the cavity to equalize with the pressure of the vacuum of space during an orbital coast phase for the rocket, wherein the equalization leads to an increase in a distance between the exterior surface of the cryogenic tank and the metallic foil;
and
maintaining the vacuum or the reduced pressure in the cavity during a reentry phase for the rocket so as to decrease the distance between the exterior surface of the cryogenic tank and the metallic foil.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

High temperature reusable vacuum-jacketed insulation for rocket missions

Life of this patent

High temperature reusable vacuum-jacketed insulation for rocket missions

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20