Date: May 15, 2013 Author: Alan Feinerman Source: 2013 SBIR National Conference
Half of the energy the US consumes is to keep containers cool or warm. Less energy would be required if we use more thermal insulation but we rarely have the luxury of more space. As an example, the two biggest energy hogs in the kitchen are the refrigerator and oven. They would use less energy if their walls were thicker but no one wants a refrigerator that can’t hold a gallon of milk.
TCT’s approach is a ½ inch thick vacuum insulation panel (VIP) that offers more thermal insulation than 8 inches of polyurethane foam but costs less. Flat VIPs already exist, but have four serious problems which TCT solved. Current VIPS are expensive, are fragile, have a short lifetime, and have mediocre performance. TCT’s first breakthrough was developing a tensile Kevlar core which is covered by a US patent, issued in 2011. The second breakthrough came when TCT found a way to seal a VIP core of any size or shape in a 0.002 inch thick stainless steel foil. The thermal performance of the VIPs depends directly on their size, and shape, and making them bigger with extended edges means a superior performance.
