Air / Foam Insulation for a Freezer in μg Conditions–Trade-Off, Analysis and On-Earth Verification

This paper shows the results obtained after the development of the thermal insulation concept described in [1] and used for freezers and coolers in manned spacecraft submitted to micro-gravity environment.

The use of foam walls for space refrigerators have some disadvantages: mass, flammability and toxicity.

The BIOLAB (European Biology Laboratory of board International Space Station, ISS) facility is equipped with two thermal conditioning units (TCU) whose housing consist of hollow carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) walls. This technology reduces the mass of each one by 20%, and the development cost, when compared with foam wall insulation (4Kg over a total of 20Kg).

This paper describes the design of the hollow solution and presents the results of the analysis and test that were done.

The test and analysis protocol used to validate the finite element model (FEM) and the simulation of the performances on orbit is presented as well.