New GTL Breakthrough Composite Tubing Achieves Liquid Hydrogen Flow in Two Seconds
13 Agosto 2024 - 7:02AM
Business Wire
Emerging Aerospace Company Continues to Exceed
Innovation Milestones for Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft and Space
Vehicles
Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, Inc. (GTL), an aerospace engineering
research and development company, has announced breakthrough
results for its Blended Hybrid Laminate™ (BHL) composite technology
for cryogenic tubes, pipes and transfer lines.
NASA has found when transferring liquid hydrogen (LH2) from a
delivery or storage tank to another tank that they lose 50-70
percent of the hydrogen to boil-off. A few of the biggest refueling
challenges are the lengthy cool-down times needed to get LH2 to the
fuel tank and wasted fuel due to hydrogen boiloff. Now, a first of
its kind results from a NASA SBIR program show GTL’s composite
tubing can reduce the chill-down time, hydrogen boil-off, as well
as the dry mass of cryogenic fluid transfer lines.
GTL first developed BHL technology for cryo-tank applications
but it also works exceptionally well for transfer lines, tubes and
pipes, providing up to ten times lower thermal mass than metal
tubing. In a recent series of tests, GTL demonstrated the
feasibility of these pipes in quickly reaching 20 degrees Kelvin
temperature and beginning the flow of liquid hydrogen within two
seconds. This means that once integrated into operational systems,
an aircraft could fill their LH2 tanks in minutes rather than hours
and easily manage the small amount of hydrogen that is boiled off
during fill operations, significantly reducing fuel costs and
increasing operational safety.
“We are thrilled with our team’s efforts to test and validate
our BHL technology and its demonstrated ability to outperform
conventional metal transfer lines for both mass and boil-off
characteristics,” said GTL President Paul Gloyer. “We first had
strong results with our tank technology and now we have tubes that
demonstrate fast fill and refill capabilities. The ultralight
weight BHL technology being used/validated in this effort marks
another key milestone in our efforts to advance hydrogen-powered
innovation and vehicles.”
Looking closer at the results, the SBIR effort tested a series
of lightweight BHL composite tubes along with equivalent metal
tubing. And when looking closer at the results, the tests confirmed
and validated the enhanced thermal properties of BHL tubes and
demonstrated that GTL’s BHL composite tubes chilled down
approximately ten times faster than equivalent stainless-steel
tubing. The combination of a significant reduction in thermal mass
and enhanced heat transfer properties achieved this improvement.
With this technology, LH2 boil-off during transfer can be
significantly reduced, opening the door to practical no-vent
filling of LH2 tanks for aircraft, trucks and spacecraft.
The Phase II effort also verified the scalability of the BHL
tubes and demonstrated the capability to build tubes with a range
of diameters and lengths. The effort also demonstrated the
capability to create tube bends and accommodate tube flexure. As
part of the effort, GTL fabricated flight-capable BHL tubing at the
main liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant lines for GTL’s
Disruptor suborbital rocket, which successfully used a cold-flow
ground test of the vehicle.
GTL has multiple concurrent projects that leverage BHL
technology. GTL is currently integrating BHL composite tubing into
the flight prototype of GTL’s ultra-lightweight composite LH2 Dewar
tank, scheduled for flight testing on a manned helicopter starting
in Q4 2024. In the coming year, BHL tubes will be integrated into
flight applications where their lightweight, high-performance
capabilities will be further validated. GTL intends to integrate
BHL tubes into future vehicle designs and cryogenic transfer line
solutions. Its BHL technology applies to nearly any cryogenic
system and thereby applicable to launch systems; Lunar, cislunar
and Mars applications, and satellite systems.
About GTL
Formed in 2005, GTL is headquartered in Tullahoma, Tennessee,
with a second office in California. GTL specializes in providing
transformational technologies to the aerospace and defense industry
including composite cryogenic tanks, cryogenic connectors and
valves, specialty structural composites, aircraft and space
systems, rocket engines, combustion stability analysis, space and
launch vehicle technologies. GTL is also developing high
performance drones, UAVs and a space vehicle. GTL has won numerous
development contracts with NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Navy,
and others. For more information or to discuss partnerships,
contact GTL at https://www.gtlcompany.com/.
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Heidi Murphy 312-248-8856 Heidi.Murphy@PadillaCo.com