Colorado Engineering Firms Win NASA Grant to Develop Innovative Insulation for Next Generation Spacecraft
Super-Insulation May Allow Future Energy Efficient Appliances
Quest Product Development, teaming with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., has completed a NASA
research program and successfully demonstrated a new thermal insulation. NASA has awarded the team a
Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant to develop and commercialize this advanced thermal
insulation.
Integrated Multilayer Insulation (“IMLI”), vital for NASA’s new spacecraft and exploration missions
would preserve rocket fuels such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. These cryogenic propellants
are high energy, “green” non-toxic fuels, but require insulation to reduce boiloff before launch and
during missions. According to Ball Aerospace Principal Engineer, Gary Mills, “The industry is in a
transition of cryogenic propellant technology from launch vehicles that operate for 20 minutes to
exploration spacecraft that operate for months and require propellant insulation that is lightweight
with high thermal performance before launch and on-orbit.” Quest uses micro-molding to create
engineered polymer structures that form extremely effective thermal barriers. Scott Dye, Principal
Investigator, explains, “Micromolded parts provide structural integrity, low mass and low thermal
conductivity, all requirements for space flight use.”
IMLI technology may also find applications on Earth to insulate cryo-tanks storing liquid oxygen and
nitrogen; to insulate shipping containers; and to insulate home appliances. A 1″ panel could have an
insulation “R-value” of 1600, compared to current foam insulation with an R-value of 7. Quest’s
Director of Technology Development, Alan Kopelove, believes refrigerators/freezers with IMLI
insulation could use fifty-percent less energy, and offer unique styling such as thin panels, and
says, “IMLI may enable energy efficient appliances that surpass new federal energy recommendations”.
Water heaters with improved insulation could use eighteen-percent less energy. Data suggests that
implementing IMLI for these two home appliances could provide annual energy savings of $8 billion in
the U.S.
Quest Product Development (http://www.quest-corp.com) is a
technology and product development company, and brings new technologies from universities and
companies to market. Ball Aerospace is a leading company with more than 50 years experience in space
system development and innovative technologies. The NASA Phase II grant, for $600,000, is for the
second of three phases of product development designed to provide a commercially available product
for use in NASA’s new spacecraft and commercial insulation applications.
