Low Temperature Storage Sphere Insulation with Pittsburgh Corning FOAMGLAS® cellular glass

Please note: When insulating for below ambient service, it is important to have complete engineering information. Click here to contact the FOAMGLAS® insulation technical team for specific information such as guide specifications and thickness calculations.

Spheres are used to store low temperature liquid and present the advantage to offer a reduced exterior surface for a given storage volume compared to all other possible shapes but they require spherical shapes for the steel elements used to build them. Since it is not easy to form these elements in cryogenic steel, the large majority of spheres operating at low temperature are not cooled down to near or at cryogenic temperatures. An operating temperature of - 50°C represents by far the lowest usual value and often gases are stored in vapour phase, under pressure at a temperature not as low as the liquefaction temperature.

Since it is difficult to form metal jacket to the spherical shape, fabric reinforced coatings are very often the preferred solution.

Generally spheres are limited to a single surface, the double envelope concept being practically not often used for sphere. Finally, due to the sphere total symmetry, the method of applying cellular glass is the same for all the spherical surface with the only exception of straps.