Extremely efficient thermal insulation, easily assembled and applied to cover various surfaces, would have utility in commercial cryogenic applications such as cryogenic vessels and pipes in scientific and industrial applications. A major use would be insulating dewars for liquid nitrogen, liquid helium, liquid oxygen, etc., which are widely found in research and industrial uses. Other potential applications include large commercial tanks, industrial boilers and industrial hot and cold process equipment, refrigerated trucks and trailers, insulated tank, container and rail cars, liquid hydrogen fueled aircraft or fuel cells, appliances such as refrigerators and freezers, hot water heaters, Thermos type liquid containers, picnic and mobile containers to keep foods hot or cold, marine refrigeration, potentially even house structures. Integrated MLI might provide improved thermal performance and have improved structural integrity for spacecraft cryogenic propellant storage and thermal insulation. Other standard spacecraft insulation uses, such as insulating instruments, or insulating and preserving liquid hydrogen or liquid oxygen cryogenic systems and dewars, might also be well served by IMLI. IMLI could provide the cryogenic insulation and vacuum shell used to insulation and maintain cryogenics on space instruments, satellites, CEV/CLV spacecraft cabins and lunar surface habitats. It may be able to provide substantially longer term cryogenic storage, helping enable longer term manned space flights. Low mass, low thermal conductance cryotank structural systems are of interest to NASA. IMLI may have excellent properties required for spacecraft use; low thermal conductance, vacuum compatibility of materials, inherent control of layer dimensions and density, self-supporting layers with a post-and-beam substructure, ease of assembly for small and large areas, potential for both tight seams and material flexibility.
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