CB&I and a consortium including Shell International Exploration and Production, Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Shell plc, GenH2 and the University of Houston announced the completion of a first-of-its-kind, affordable, large-scale liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage tank concept at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, that will enable international import and export applications.
The project, which began in 2021 and is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), developed a novel non-vacuum tank design concept for large-scale (up to 100,000 cubic meters) storage of LH2that is anticipated to provide a substantial cost advantage over conventional vacuum insulated tanks. This concept is being demonstrated through the construction, startup and testing of a small-scale LH2 demonstration tank at NASA MSFC.
The demonstration tank will significantly increase the MSFC hydrogen test facility’s LH2 storage capacity and be used to characterize the behavior of materials under cryogenic conditions, mimicking normal fill and empty cycles and testing non-vacuum insulation materials. In addition to an estimated six-month test period included in the project scope, a Space Act Agreement among the partner organizations provides for MSFC’s use of the tank over a five-year period, during which CB&I and Shell will continue to test new insulation technologies under non-vacuum conditions.
Photo of CB&I
Describe more in press release https://tinyurl.com/6dxn2y9m
