Experimental investigation on the behavior of thermal super insulation materials for cryogenic storage tanks in fire incidents

The number of vehicles using or transporting cryogenic fuels such as Liquefied Hydrogen (LH2) or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) increases fast in the land transportation sector. Does this also entail new risks? The storage of cryogenic fuels requires tanks with Thermal Super Insulations (TSI) to keep the fluid cold and limit the formation of boil-off gas. TSI has proven itself in some applications since the middle of the 20th century, but in the land transport sector they are still quite new, where accidents involving fires, collisions, and their combination are to be expected. This work focuses on investigating the behavior of different types of TSI while exposed to a heat source representing a fire. To this aim, a High-Temperature Thermal Vacuum Chamber (HTTVC) was applied, which allows the thermal loading of a thermal insulation material in a vacuum and measuring the heat flow transported through the TSI in parallel. In this study, the results of 6 samples are presented regarding 3 types of MLI, rock wool, perlites, and microspheres. The thermal exposure caused different effects on the samples. In practice, this can be connected to the rapid release of flammable gases as well as to a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE). These results are relevant for reducing the risks to people and infrastructures in the progressive establishment of tanks for cryogenic fluids in our industry and society. The data presented in the study can be used to improve the design of tanks and TSIs, the assessment of accident scenarios, and the development of measures for first responders.