Three-dimensional analysis for liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic storage tank with heat pipe–pump system

This paper presents a study on fluid flow and heat transfer of liquid hydrogen in a zero boil-off cryogenic storage tank in a microgravity environment. The storage tank is equipped with an active cooling system consisting of a heat pipe and a pump–nozzle unit. The pump collects cryogen at its inlet and discharges it through its nozzle onto the evaporator section of the heat pipe in order to prevent the cryogen from boiling off due to the heat leaking through the tank wall from the surroundings. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model is employed in a set of numerical simulations to solve for velocity and temperature fields of liquid hydrogen in steady state. Complex structures of 3-D velocity and temperature distributions determined from the model are presented. Simulations with an axisymmetric model were also performed for comparison. Parametric study results from both models predict that as the speed of the cryogenic fluid discharged from the nozzle increases, the mean or bulk cryogenic fluid speed increases linearly and the maximum temperature within the cryogenic fluid decreases.     

Performance measurements of a 7 mm-diameter hydrogen heat pipe

A gravity assisted heat pipe with 7-mm diameter has been developed and tested to cool a liquid hydrogen target for extracted beam experiments at COSY. The liquid flowing down from the condenser surface is separated from the vapor flowing up by a thin wall 3 mm diameter plastic tube located concentrically inside the heat pipe. The heat pipe was tested at different inclination angles with respect to the horizontal plane. The heat pipe showed good operating characteristics because of the low radiation heat load from the surroundings, low heat capacity due to the small mass, higher sensitivity to heat loads (to overcome the heat load before the complete vaporization of the liquid in the target cell) due to the higher vapor speed inside the heat pipe which transfers the heat load to the condenser.     

Gas gap thermal switches using neon or hydrogen and sorption pump

The very low pressure obtained thanks to adsorption phenomenon at low temperature can be used to build cryogenic heat switches, which offer the possibility to make or break thermal contact between two parts of a cryogenic system. The ON (conducting) and OFF (insulating) states of the switch are obtained by varying the gas pressure between two copper blocks separated by a gap of 100 μm. This pressure is controlled by acting upon the temperature of a small sorption pump (activated charcoal) connected to the gap space. For a “high” sorption pump temperature, the gas previously adsorbed in the sorption pump is released to the gap between the two blocks, allowing a good thermal conduction through the gas (ON state). On the opposite, cooling the sorption pump allows a very good vacuum between the copper blocks, which efficiently break the thermal contact (OFF state). Experimental thermal characteristics (Conductance in the ON and OFF state, ON-OFF switching temperature) of such a “Gas Gap Heat Switch” are described using hydrogen or neon as exchange gas and are compared with theoretical calculations.     

Forced flow boiling heat transfer of liquid hydrogen for superconductor cooling

Heat transfer from inner side of a heated vertical pipe to liquid hydrogen flowing upward was first measured at the pressure of 0.7 MPa for wide ranges of flow rates and liquid temperatures. The heat transfer coefficients in non-boiling regime for each flow velocity were well in agreement with the Dittus–Boelter equation. The heat fluxes at the inception of boiling and the departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) heat fluxes are higher for higher flow velocity and subcooling. It was found that the trend of dependence of the DNB heat flux on flow velocity was expressed by the correlation derived by Hata et al. based on their data for subcooled flow boiling of water, although it has different propensity to subcooling.     

Development of a miniature cryogenic fluid circuit and a cryogenic micropump

This article presents the development of a miniaturized cryogenic fluid circuit for distributed cooling of low-temperature tracking detectors in high-energy physics (HEP). The heart of the circuit is a prototype cryogenic micropump. This volumetric pump is compatible with cooling powers of about 10-100 W, and capable of producing pressure heads of up to around 0.3 MPa. Besides detector and electronics cooling in HEP, potential applications are found in the field of superconductor technology.     

Design of a high power heater for the cryogenic hydrogen system at J-PARC

The cryogenic hydrogen system, which provides the supercritical hydrogen with the pressure of 1.5 MPa and the temperature of around 20 K, adopts to moderate and convert high-energy neutrons into cold neutrons for neutron scattering experiments in the J-PARC. Large pressure fluctuation caused by the intense pulsed-proton-beam injection and trip should be mitigated by both an active heater control and a passive accumulator control. A compact high power heater should be required to compensate the heat load corresponding to the nuclear heating while the proton beam stopping. In this study, the high power heater used in the cryogenic hydrogen was designed and a numerical analysis was performed. Then the results confirmed that the heater could apply kW-order heat powers to supercritical hydrogen without any disturbance.     

A very light and thin liquid hydrogen/deuterium heat pipe target for COSY experiments

A liquid hydrogen/deuterium heat pipe (HP) target is used at the COSY external experiments TOF, GEM and MOMO. The target liquid is produced at a cooled condenser and guided through a central tube assisted by gravitation into the target cell. An aluminum condenser is used instead of copper, which requires less material, improves conductivities and provides shorter cooling down time. Residual condenser temperature fluctuations in the order of ≈0.4 K are reduced by using thermal resistances between the cooling machine and the condenser of the heat pipe combined with a controlled heating power. A new design with only a 7-mm-diameter HP has been developed. The diameter of the condenser part remains at 16 mm to provide enough condensation area. The small amount of material ensures short cooling down times. A cold gas deuterium HP target has been designed and developed which allows protons with energy ?1 MeV to be measured. A 7-mm-diameter HP is used to fill a cooling jacket around the D₂ gas cell with LH₂. The D₂ gas is stabilized at 200 mbar to allow for thin windows. Its density is increased by factor 15 compared to room temperature.     

Capacitance based mass metering for cryogenic fluids

This paper describes a method for measuring the mass of cryogenic fluids in on-board rocket propellant tanks or ground storage tanks. Linear approximations to the Clausius-Mossotti relationship serve as the foundation for a capacitance based mass sensor, regardless of fluid density stratification or tank shape. Sensor design considerations are presented along with the experimental results for a capacitance based mass gage tested in liquid nitrogen. This test data is shown to be consistent with theory resulting in a demonstrated mass measurement accuracy of ±0.75% and a deviation from linearity of less than ±0.30% of full scale mass. Theoretical accuracies are also shown to be ±0.73% for hydrogen and ±1.39% for oxygen for a select range of pressures and temperatures.     

Transient thermodynamic behavior of cryogenic mixed fluid thermosiphon and its cool-down time estimation

Thermosiphon is an efficient heat transfer device by utilizing latent heat of fluid at liquid-vapor phase change. One of the disadvantages of thermosiphon, however, is that the operational temperature range is fundamentally limited from the critical point to the triple point of the working fluid to maintain two phase state. Nitrogen (N₂) and tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) were selected as the mixed working fluid to widen their original operational temperature range. Thermodynamic behavior of mixture and its effect on the cool-down time were investigated. A simple calculation model was proposed to estimate the cool-down time of the thermosiphon evaporator prior to experiments. The calculated results agreed well with the experimental results within 5% error. The cool-down time reduction was not achieved by mixing two components at once due to the separation of mixture. One idea to avoid this problem was suggested in this paper where the estimated cool-down time was reduced 17.8% compared to pure N₂.     

Cryogenic propellant liquefaction and storage for a precursor to a human Mars mission

An analysis of cryogenic liquefaction and storage methods for in-situ produced propellants (oxygen and methane) on Mars is presented. The application is to a subscale precursor sample return mission, intended to demonstrate critical cryogenic technologies prior to a human mission. A heat transfer analysis is included, resulting in predicted cryogenic tank surface temperatures and heat leak values for different conditions. Insulation thickness is traded off against cryocooler capacity to find optimum combinations for various insulation configurations, including multilayer insulation and microspheres. Microsphere insulation is shown to have promise, and further development is recommended.     

Development and performance test of a cryoprobe with heat transfer enhancement configuration

In the present study, a cryoprobe with heat transfer enhancement configuration (HTEC) is developed and its freezing performance is evaluated experimentally. Two kinds of heat transfer enhancement configurations, i.e., coiled wire insert and helical mesh insert, are proposed and used in the cryoprobe. Furthermore, in order to ensure that vapor can be discharged freely and only liquid nitrogen reaches the cryogenic section of the cryoprobe, a vapor–liquid separator is employed upstream of the cryoprobe. It is found that the precooling time of the cryoprobe is significantly shortened with the vapor–liquid separator. The enhancement of the freezing capacity with the helical mesh insert is slightly superior to that with the coiled wire insert. With the helical mesh insert, the freezing capacity of the cryoprobe can be enhanced by 41%, and the wall temperature can reach 111.3 K in about 10 min. Significant temperature oscillations are observed in the precooling stage of the cryoprobe with HTEC, while only slight temperature oscillations can be found without HTEC.     

Feed system thermal integration for a cryogenic Lunar ascent stage

Cryogenic liquid acquisition devices (LADs) for space-based propulsion interface directly with the feed system, a significant heat leak source. The gradual accumulation of thermal energy within a representative capillary LAD during long-term storage periods (up to 210 days) on the Lunar surface is the main issue addressed. The ongoing program consists of experimental and analytical facets that include: (a) thermal modeling of LAD interior temperatures, (b) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses to define bulk liquid conditions surrounding the LAD, (c) testing and analyses of condensation conditioning techniques for stabilizing LAD liquid retention, and (d) low-cost fluid systems thermal integration testing.     

Performance of extended surface from a cryocooler for subcooling liquid nitrogen by natural convection

Natural convection of subcooled liquid nitrogen under a horizontal flat plate is measured by experiment. This study is motivated mainly by our recent development of cryocooling systems for HTS power devices without any forced circulation of liquid nitrogen. Since the cold surface of a GM cryocooler is very limited, the cooling plate immersed in subcooled liquid nitrogen is thermally anchored to the cryocooler located at the top in order to serve as an extended surface. A vertical plate generating uniform heat flux is placed at a given distance under the cooling plate so that subcooled liquid may generate cellular flow by natural convection. The temperature distributions on the plates and liquid are measured during the cool-down and in steady state, from which the heat transfer coefficients are calculated and compared with the existing correlations for a horizontal surface with uniform temperature. A fair agreement is observed between two data sets, when the heat flux is small or the plate temperatures are relatively uniform in horizontal direction. Some discrepancy at higher heat flux is explained by the cellular flow pattern and the fin efficiency of the extended surface, resulting in the non-uniformity of the horizontal plate.     

Development of No-Vent™ liquid hydrogen storage system for space applications

A number of technological advances required to store and maintain normal-boiling-point and densified cryogenic liquids, including liquid hydrogen, under zero boil-off conditions in-space, for long periods of time, have been developed. These technologies include (1) thermally optimized compact cryogen storage systems that reduce environmental heat leak to the lowest-temperature cryogen, which minimizes cryocooler size and input power, and (2) actively-cooled shields that surround the storage systems and intercept heat leak. The processes and tools used to develop these technologies are discussed. A zero boil-off liquid hydrogen storage system technology demonstrator for validating the actively-cooled shield technology is presented.     

Equipment using a “static-analytic” method for solubility measurements in potentially hazardous binary mixtures under cryogenic temperatures

A new apparatus designed to study, at cryogenic temperatures, thermodynamic equilibria of potentially explosive binary systems such as hydrocarbon-oxygen mixtures is described herein. This equipment has an equilibrium cell which was especially designed to minimize hazards while allowing accurate phase equilibrium measurements. Reliability of results, obtained with this equipment has been verified by working on the nitrogen-propane system, for which data are already available in literature, over a large range of compositions and at various temperatures. Four isothermal curves describing liquid phase compositions at 109.98, 113.77, 119.75 and 125.63 K have been determined. Our experimental data are represented within 2% in compositions and in pressures through the Peng-Robinson equation of state implying Mathias-Copeman alpha function and Huron-Vidal mixing rule. Comparisons to literature allow pointing out: good agreement is observed with Kremer and Knapp data (1983) while the three sets of Poon and Lu data (1974) presenting systematic positive deviation are consequently judged as suspicious.     

A review of experimental methods for solid solubility determination in cryogenic systems

Over the past years, there have been a number of serious explosions in air industry, which have resulted in workers injuries and fatalities. At the same time, there has been an increase in the use of air separation products for industrial activities.The quality of air entering an air separation plant is of crucial importance for its safe and reliable operation and the interest in the solubility data of solids in cryogenic liquid solvents is closely connected to the problem of impurities accumulation in the process plant and storage tanks. Such accumulations, especially in liquid oxygen, may cause fouling and blockage in heat exchangers and pipelines and they may eventually cause serious explosions. For this reason the air contaminants composition in liquid oxygen must be determined with great precision.This paper aims at reviewing experimental methods for determining the solubility of solid compounds that may be present in the cryogenic liquefaction processing of air distillation. A review of the literature data on solubility of solids in liquid oxygen and nitrogen is included as well.Emphasis is given to the difficulties in setting-up measuring apparatuses working at extreme conditions, i.e. low compositions and low temperatures.     

A coupled numerical analysis of shield temperatures, heat losses and residual gas pressures in an evacuated super-insulation using thermal and fluid networks: Part III: Unsteady-state conditions (evacuation period)

This paper analyses the evacuation period of a 300 L super-insulated cryogenic storage tank for liquid nitrogen. Storage tank and radiation shields are the same as in part I of this paper. The present analysis extends application of stationary fluid networks to unsteady-states to determine local, residual gas pressures between shields and the evacuation time of a multilayer super-insulation. Parameter tests comprise magnitude of desorption from radiation shields, spacers and container walls and their influence on length of the evacuation period. Calculation of the integrals over time-dependent desorption rates roughly confirms weight losses of radiation shields obtained after heating and out-gassing the materials, as reported in the literature. After flooding the insulation space with dry N₂-gas, the evacuation time can enormously be reduced, from 72 to 4 h, to obtain a residual gas pressure of 0.01 Pa in-between shields of this storage tank. Permeation of nitrogen through container walls is of no importance for residual gas pressures. The simulations finally compare freezing H₂O-layers adsorbed on shields, spacers and container walls with flooding of the materials.     

Thermal performance of multilayer insulation around a horizontal cylinder

Thermal performance of multiplayer insulation (MLI) is affected by contact pressure between adjacent layers. In order to evaluate the thermal performance of the MLI fabricated in the horizontal cryostats of superconducting magnets, it is important to investigate the contact pressure in the MLI. In case of a horizontal cryostat, the MLI is wound around horizontal cylindrical surface and is compressed at the upper part of the cylinder due to the MLI self-weight. At first, a single thin film wound around the horizontal cylinder was analyzed to evaluate the contact pressure acting on the cylinder. The analysis has been extended to the multiply wound film around horizontal cylinder, in order to investigate the distribution of contact pressure between adjacent layers. By using experimental data obtained with a flat panel calorimeter, the results of this analysis have been applied to evaluate the thermal performance of MLI around a horizontal cylinder. And the non-dimensional contact pressure parameter P^* has been introduced as a useful parameter to evaluate and compare the thermal performance among different kinds of MLI.     

Thermal contact resistance of different materials between 0.3 K and 4.5 K

The choice of a good bonding agent often depends on the temperature range of use and on its corresponding thermal contact resistance. Measurements obtained between 0.3 K and 4.5 K were made applying the steady state heat flow method across the interfaces of small crystals of quartz (SiO₂) sandwiched by two copper blocks and attached with various types of contact materials. Below 1 K, we found that for one crystal attached with indium solder its thermal contact resistance was . This value in comparison with those attached with a conductive and an insulating epoxies, turns to be the lowest.     

Film boiling on a vertical plate in subcooled helium II

Film boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured on 10, 30 and 50 mm long vertical plates in subcooled He II for bulk liquid temperatures from 1.8 to 2.1 K. A film boiling model on a vertical plate in subcooled He II was presented based on convection heat transport in the vapor film, radiation heat transport, and heat transport in He II. The numerical solutions of the model were obtained and an equation which can express the numerical solutions within ±5% difference was derived. The equation predicted well the experimental data for lower ΔT range but significantly under-predicted the data for higher ΔT. A correlation of film boiling heat transfer including radiation contribution was presented by modifying the equation based the experimental data. This correlation can describe the experimental data within ±20% difference.