Recently, CB&I's US headquarters in Missouri, in collaboration with NASA, completed the first liquid hydrogen fill of a 20 m³ non-vacuum insulated liquid hydrogen storage tank at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, creating conditions for the related cryogenic storage technology to enter the large-scale application verification stage.
The tank put into use this time adopts the LHI liquid hydrogen tank non-vacuum insulation technology, and the data generated during operation will be used to evaluate the commercial application potential of this solution in large-scale storage systems. Unlike traditional vacuum-insulated storage tanks, this equipment uses solid, foam, or other insulation materials; CB&I has not yet disclosed further details on the specific materials and technical aspects.
According to the project plan, this 20 m³ tank will be refilled with liquid hydrogen daily to support NASA in extending the liquid hydrogen testing cycle. The completion of the first fill means that the equipment has entered the phase of continuous operation and performance observation, and the subsequent data will provide a basis for the technical optimization of the non-vacuum insulation solution.
The project was jointly initiated by CB&I, NASA, Shell, and GenH2, and received $6 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2021. Among them, Shell and CB&I each invested $3 million to promote the tank development and related testing work.
Liquid hydrogen has a higher energy storage level per unit volume than compressed hydrogen, but its storage temperature needs to be maintained at around -253°C. Once the insulation capacity is insufficient, liquid hydrogen may vaporize after absorbing external heat, resulting in evaporation loss. Therefore, how to reduce heat ingress and control liquid hydrogen loss is an important issue that large-scale cryogenic storage facilities need to address.
Traditional liquid hydrogen storage tanks usually suppress heat transfer through a vacuum insulation structure and are equipped with redundant pressure relief systems to ensure operational safety. Non-vacuum insulation technology attempts to achieve cold preservation without relying on a similar vacuum structure. If this test meets expectations, it will provide a new technical option for large-scale liquid hydrogen storage tanks, but the actual energy efficiency, operational stability, and commercial value of this solution still require further verification.
NASA currently uses liquid hydrogen extensively in fuel research and broader aerospace R&D activities. At the end of 2025, NASA also awarded a contract of approximately 16,700 mt of liquid hydrogen supply to Plug Power and Air Products for its relevant facilities across the US.
This first fill will help project participants obtain real operational data on non-vacuum insulated liquid hydrogen storage systems and further examine its application feasibility in large-scale liquid hydrogen storage and transportation infrastructure.
