Welding stainless steel can be a demanding task. The task becomes even greater when the job involves welding large cryogenic storage tanks such as those for the Boeing Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Chicago Bridge Iron Company (CBI) discovered this 'first-hand recently when they were hired by Raytheon, Inc., to design and build the storage tanks that hold the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen used to fuel the Boeing Delta IV rocket. Jim Smith, CBI's project manager for the job, describes the tanks as "large thermos bottles." The tanks are double-walled spheres consisting of an inner wall of stainless steel and an outer wall of carbon steel with insulation in between. The liquid hydrogen tank has an inner diameter of 61 feet (18.6m), with an outer diameter of 67 feet (20.4m). The smaller tank for the liquid oxygen has an inner diameter of 41 feet (12.5m) and an outer diameter of 47 feet (14.3m). Anyway you look at it, there was a lot of welding to do.
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