The present invention relates to a heat-insulating structural material, which: firstly, can minimize or prevent a thermal bridge by improving the structure of the connection part of the heat-insulating structural material; secondly, improves insulation performance by arranging a vacuum insulation material inside the core layer of the heat-insulating structural material; and thirdly, increases structural stiffness by forming the core layer from a non-foaming polymer material having excellent structural performance, prevents gas from moving in or out of the vacuum insulation material through the air-tight adhesive structure of the core layer, and can improve fire protection performance so as not to be vulnerable to fire, and thus the present invention is universally applicable to fields requiring insulation ability and structural performance.

A hydrogen storage tank for a hydrogen fueled aircraft. The tank has a wall made of layers of aerogel sections around a hard shell layer, sealed within a flexible outer layer, and having the air removed to form a vacuum. The periphery of each layer section abuts other sections of that layer, but only overlies the periphery of the sections of other layers at individual points. The wall is characterized by a thermal conductivity that is lower near its gravitational top than its gravitational bottom. The tank has two exit passageways, one being direct, and the other passing through a vapor shield that extends through the wall between two layers of aerogel. A control system controls the relative flow through the two passages to regulate the boil-off rate of the tank.

Method for thermal insulation of an evacuable container comprising an inner container, an outer container and a cavity disposed between the inner container and the outer container, wherein said method comprises a) using a vacuum pump to reduce a pressure in the cavity and after achieving a first value of the pressure interrupting the connection to the vacuum pump, b) subsequently making a connection from a reservoir container of the thermally insulating particulate material to a filling opening provided in the region of the cavity, c) setting the evacuable container into motion, wherein the thermally insulating particulate material flows into the cavity according to a) and the pressure in the cavity increases due to the air introduced with the thermally insulating particulate material, d) terminating the filling at a second value of the pressure by interrupting the connection from the cavity to the reservoir container, e) repeating step a), wherein the output of the vacuum pump with which the cavity is deaerated is controlled such that the profile over time of the mass flow exiting from the cavity of air introduced with the thermally insulating particulate material is at a maximum, f) subsequently repeating steps b)-e) up to the desired degree of filling and g) as the final step sealing the evacuated cavity.

The liquefied gas tank for storage and distribution of liquefied gas is designed so that the outer 1 and inner tank 2 touch only through a fixed joint 5 and a sliding bearing 6 where the space 3 between the outer 1 and the inner tank 2 is filled with a material consisting of hollow microspherical particles of sodium borosilicate and synthetic silicon.

A hydrogen storage tank for a hydrogen fueled aircraft. The tank has a wall made of layers of aerogel sections around a hard shell layer, sealed within a flexible outer layer, and having the air removed to form a vacuum. The periphery of each layer section abuts other sections of that layer, but only overlies the periphery of the sections of other layers at individual points. The wall is characterized by a thermal conductivity that is lower near its gravitational top than its gravitational bottom. The tank has two exit passageways, one being direct, and the other passing through a vapor shield that extends through the wall between two layers of aerogel. A control system controls the relative flow through the two passages to regulate the boil-off rate of the tank.

The present invention includes: an independent tank constituting an inner tank to store a storage material therein; at least one sandwich plate modularized and manufactured include a metal plate provided in a pair opposite to each other, the metal plates having a reinforcing material formed therebetween, and a filler filled between the metal plates, the at least one sandwich plate surrounding the outer surface of the independent tank to constitute an outer tank; and an external reinforcing member formed on the outer surface of the sandwich plate.

Method for thermal insulation of an evacuable container comprising an inner container, an outer container and a cavity disposed between the inner container and the outer container, wherein said method comprises a) using a vacuum pump to reduce a pressure in the cavity and after achieving a first value of the pressure interrupting the connection to the vacuum pump, b) subsequently making a connection from a reservoir container of the thermally insulating particulate material to a filling opening provided in the region of the cavity, c) setting the evacuable container into motion, wherein the thermally insulating particulate material flows into the cavity according to a) and the pressure in the cavity increases due to the air introduced with the thermally insulating particulate material, d) terminating the filling at a second value of the pressure by interrupting the connection from the cavity to the reservoir container, e) repeating step a), wherein the output of the vacuum pump with which the cavity is deaerated is controlled such that the profile over time of the mass flow exiting from the cavity of air introduced with the thermally insulating particulate material is at a maximum, f) subsequently repeating steps b)-e) up to the desired degree of filling and g) as the final step sealing the evacuated cavity.

A sealed and thermally insulating tank including a thermally insulating barrier suitable for being anchored to a load-bearing structure is disclosed. The thermally insulating barrier including a plurality of insulating panels juxtaposed in a regular pattern, two adjacent insulating panels defining an inter-panel space, the inter-panel space including an outer portion and an inner portion superposed in the direction of the thickness of the thermally insulating barrier, the outer portion being suitable for being situated close to the load-bearing structure and the inner portion being close to the inside of the tank, the tank further including insulating seals, the insulating seals including two outer insulating seals, the said outer insulating seals being arranged juxtaposed in the outer portion of the inter-panel space so that they have two adjacent edges, and an inner insulating seal, the inner insulating seal being arranged in the inner portion of the inter-panel space.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a sealed and thermally insulating tank wall comprising: providing a thermally insulating barrier comprising two insulating panels delimiting an inter-panel space, providing an insulating insert comprising a wrapper completely covering an insulating core, inserting a suction nozzle of a suction system into the insulating insert through an orifice in the wrapper, applying a vacuum pressure in the insulating insert so as to reduce the thickness of the insulating insert through vacuum pressure, inserting the insulating insert into the inter-panel space while maintaining the suction of the suction system, when the insulating insert has been inserted into the inter-panel space, removing the suction nozzle from the insulating insert.

A hydrogen storage tank for a hydrogen fueled aircraft. The tank has a wall made of layers of aerogel sections around a hard shell layer, sealed within a flexible outer layer, and having the air removed to form a vacuum. The periphery of each layer section abuts other sections of that layer, but only overlies the periphery of the sections of other layers at individual points. The wall is characterized by a thermal conductivity that is lower near its gravitational top than its gravitational bottom. The tank has two exit passageways, one being direct, and the other passing through a vapor shield that extends through the wall between two layers of aerogel. A control system controls the relative flow through the two passages to regulate the boil-off rate of the tank.