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Scorpius SLC (Hawthorne, CA; www.scorpius.com), an aerospace manufacturing and engineering firm, has been selected to build lightweight, all-composite cryogenic tanks for a NASA Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract. But these tanks may have uses beyond launch vehicles. The company plans to offer the tanks for medical applications where an ultrahigh strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance are desirable.
For medical applications, the tanks will be available under the name Pressuremaxx products, and will be provided in a range of sizes. Custom pressure vessels are also available. The tanks are suitable for storing and transporting a variety of cold gases and liquids at various temperatures, including mobile medical oxygen, surgical cryogens, and cooling fluids for superconductor magnets.
Recently, the technology behind the tank design received the American Composites Manufacturers Association and Composites Manufacturing magazine 2006 award for excellence and innovation in composites engineering.
The tanks conform to American Society of Mechanical Engineers standards and their linerless design reduces weight compared with metallic tanks. Fatigue characteristics of liner materials can also compromise operations in a way not experienced by the tanks, according to the company. Advanced glass-fiber versions are also offered for superconducting coils where magnetically neutral materials and electrical nonconductivity are required.
