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.     

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.     

A thin gold coated hydrogen heat pipe-cryogenic target for external experiments at COSY

A gravity assisted Gold coated heat pipe (GCHP) with 5-mm diameter has been developed and tested to cool a liquid hydrogen target for external beam experiments at COSY. The need for a narrow target diameter leads us to study the effect of reducing the heat pipe diameter to 5 mm instead of 7 mm, to study the effect of coating the external surface of the heat pipe by a shiny gold layer (to decrease the radiation heat load), and to study the effect of using the heat pipe without using 20 layers of‘ super-insulation around it (aluminized Mylar foil) to keep the target diameter as small as possible. The developed gold coated heat pipe was tested with 20 layers of super-insulation (WI) and without super-insulation (WOI). The operating characteristics for both conditions were compared to show the advantages and disadvantages.     

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.     

Experimental study of condensation heat transfer of R-404A in helically coiled tubes

In this research, the heat transfer coefficients of R-404A vapor condensation inside helically coiled tubes are studied, experimentally. The effects of different coil pitches and curvature radii at different vapor qualities and mass velocities are considered. The vapor is condensed inside the helically coiled tubes by transferring heat to the cooling water flowing in annulus. Results show that the coil diameter has significant effect on condensation heat transfer coefficient. By decreasing the coil diameter or increasing the Dean number, the heat transfer coefficient is increased as the highest value is obtained at curvature radius of 4.35 cm which is 45% greater than the corresponding figure of curvature radius of 7.65 cm at mass velocity of 125 kg m⁻² s⁻¹. Also, at low vapor qualities, the coil pitch effect is more pronounced. Finally, based on the results, a new correlation is developed to evaluate the condensation heat transfer coefficient of R-404A inside helically coiled tubes.     

Improvement of condenser performance by phase separation confirmed experimentally and by modeling

This paper presents results of an experimental study to determine the effect of vapor–liquid separation in a header of microchannel condenser for a MAC system. R134a is used as the working fluid. A condenser with separation and a baseline condenser identical on the air side have been tested to evaluate the difference in the performance due to separation. Two categories of experiments have been conducted: the heat exchanger-level test and the system-level test. In the heat exchanger-level test, it is found that at the same inlet and outlet temperatures the separation condenser generates 1.6% to 7.4% more condensate flow rate than the baseline. The separation condenser also lowers the refrigerant exit temperature compared with the baseline at the same condensate flow rate. The improvement in the separation condenser confirms the results by a model. In the system-level test, COP is compared under the same superheat, subcooling and refrigerating capacity. System with separation condenser shows up to 6.6% a higher COP than the system with baseline condenser.     

Heat transfer in the evaporator of an advanced two-phase thermosyphon loop

As heat generation from electronic components increase and the limit of air-cooling is reached, the interest for using liquid cooling for high heat flux applications has risen. Thermosyphon cooling is an alternative liquid cooling technique, in which heat is transferred as heat of vaporization from evaporator to condenser with a relatively small temperature difference.The effect of fluid properties, the structure of wall surfaces, and the effect of system pressure was investigated and reported previously by the author. In this paper, the influence of heat flux, system pressure, mass flow rate, vapor fraction, diameter of evaporator channel and tubing distance between evaporator and condenser on the heat transfer coefficient of an advanced two-phase thermosyphon loop is reported. The tested evaporators were made from small blocks of copper with 7, 5, 4, 3 and 2 vertical channels with the diameters of 1.1, 1.5, 1.9, 2.5, and 3.5 mm, respectively and the length of 14.6 mm. Tests were done with isobutane at heat fluxes ranging between 28.3 and 311.5 kW/m².     

中国先进研究堆(CARR)冷中子源装置设计

对中国在建的核功率为60 MW的中国先进研究堆中冷中子源系统的设计作了总体描述.该冷中子源采用液氢作为慢化剂,主要由两个分系统氢循环系统和氦制冷系统构成.氢循环系统中的冷包设计为带氦助冷通道的液氢层为月牙形的冷包.氢在连接冷包与氢氦换热器的单管内进行两相热虹吸循环.冷包材料和慢化剂氢的核发热通过氦制冷系统产生的冷氦带走,氦制冷系统采用带液氮预冷的逆布雷顿制冷循环.     

A comprehensive study of the performance of a heat pipe by using of various nanofluids

In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the performance of a heat pipe using various nanofluids. The effect of different nanofluids (prepared using alumina, copper oxide, and silver nanoparticles) at different concentrations and particle diameters on the performance of heat pipe is also studied by through finite volume method. The obtained results show that using a nanofluid instead of water leads to the increased thermal efficiency and reduction in heat at wall of the heat pipe. Also, the temperature difference between the evaporator and the condenser is a function of input power; this means that by an increase in the input capacity, the temperature difference between the evaporator and the condenser increases. It was observed that the use of nanofluid reduces the axial-flow pressure of the fluid inside the wick. As a result, the transmission of fluid flow inside the wick from the condenser to the evaporator is easily done with the cost of using a nanofluid. Moreover, with an increase in thermal capacity, fluid pressure drop becomes maximum and thus temperature difference between the evaporator and the condenser increases.     

蒸发冷却式热管与蒸气压缩复合数据中心空调系统性能实验研究

为解决传统数据中心空调系统能耗高和冷却效率低等问题,本文提出了带有蒸发式冷凝器的制冷剂泵驱动热管与蒸气压缩复合数据中心空调系统,实验分析了不同室外温度与冷凝器风速下系统的运行性能.结果表明:在热管模式下,当室外温度低于0℃时,降低冷凝器风速能够提升系统COP;当室外温度高于0℃时,增大室外机风速能够提高系统节能性.降低...     

Measurement of spray boiling refrigerant coefficients in an integral-fin tube bundle segment simulating a full bundle

Outside (refrigerant) boiling coefficients for a combination of spray and drip boiling for a low pressure refrigerant have been obtained from overall heat transfer coefficients in a 1024 fins per meter tube bundle segment. The tubes were heated by water on the inside; liquid refrigerant was sprayed and/or dripped on the outside. Also, refrigerant vapor was supplied at the bottom of the bundle segment. This configuration simulates an actual flooded evaporator under spray boiling conditions. The dripping corresponds to liquid film falling from upper rows while the inlet vapor is equivalent to the vaporized refrigerant rising from lower tubes; the refrigerant vapor can influence heat transfer performance by the combined effects of gas convection and liquid shear on the tubes. For a nominal heat flux of 23,975 W/m², a bundle average outside heat transfer coefficient of 8522 W/m² °C, based on nominal tube outer diameter, was found at an average bundle vapor mass flux equal to 12.4 kg/s m². The distributor plate below the bundle enhanced the heat transfer, especially at lower vapor mass fluxes, by providing a level of liquid hold-up just below the bottom tube row.     

Experimental Study of Laminar Convective Condensation of Pure Vapor Inside an Inclined Circular Tube

Convective condensation of pure ethanol vapor inside a smooth tube of inner diameter 4.8 mm and of length 200 mm is studied. The experiments have been carried out at temperature 58°C corresponding to the pressure of 440 mbar, the vapor mass velocity varying from 0.24 to 2.04 kg/(m² s). The dependency of the Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) is investigated experimentally both subject to the temperature difference between the saturated vapor and the wall and subject to the condenser inclination. The results show that the HTC reduces with growth of the temperature difference. The dependency of the HTC on inclination has a maximum in the range 15°–35° due to the complex gravity drainage mechanism of the condensed liquid. The results could be useful for development of compact effective cooling systems for space and ground application.     

常温并联式脉动热管启动及运行特性的实验研究

针对常温并联式脉动热管搭建了采用恒温热水加热热管的实验系统,测试了以甲醇为介质,热管管径为4 mm时,不同冷却形式、加热冷却温度和充液量对热管启动特性的影响;以甲醇为介质,不同热管管径(2、4、6、8 mm)对热管等温性的影响;以及工质为甲醇和R600a,不同加热长度时(20、25、30 cm)热管的传热能力。实验结果表明:热管冷凝段采用水冷时较自然冷却启动快;较高的加热温度和较低的冷却温度有利于热管启动;热管启动时间随充液量的增加而增加。热管运行过程中在纵向和横向均具有良好的等温性,且随着热管管径的增大等温性逐渐降低。随加热温度的升高,工质为甲醇和R600a热管传热量的变化规律不同,缩短加热长度可以缓解过热度过高的不利影响。     

HFO-1336mzz(E)的物性及其在数据中心重力热管系统中的应用试验研究

针对用于数据中心重力热管系统的制冷剂HFO-1336mzz(E),对其饱和蒸气压、燃烧安全性、材料相容性等物性进行试验研究,并采用数据中心重力热管装置开展其制冷性能试验研究。结果表明,HFO-1336mzz(E)物性符合重力热管系统要求,当HFO-1336mzz(E)充注量达到最佳时,重力热管系统制冷性能满足制冷量5 kW,COP大于60和室内出风温度不高于24℃的要求,应用于重力热管系统具有良好的前景。     

Separation in condensers as a way to improve efficiency

This paper introduces the concept of separation of two-phase flow in condensers and discusses its possible application of enhancing the heat transfer performance by capitalizing on the high local heat transfer coefficient of vapor flow. The benefit of vapor–liquid refrigerant separation and the reason why it will improve the condenser performance are explained. Numerical studies are performed on an R-134a microchannel condenser. Model predicts that at the same mass flow rate, the exit temperature is lower by 1.3 K in the separation condenser than in the baseline condenser while the difference of pressure drop remains within 2%. 6.1% more flow rate of condensate is predicted in the separation condenser as another comparison criterion. In addition, the trade-off between high quality and low mass flux for the vapor path downstream of the separation header is investigated by the model and results are presented. Modeling is conducted with pre-assumed separation efficiency in the header. The real value requires further investigation.     

Nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficients of HCFC22, HFC134a, HFC125, and HFC32 on various enhanced tubes

In this study, nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) of HCFC22, HFC134a, HFC125, HFC32 were measured on a low fin, Turbo-B, and Thermoexcel-E tubes. All data were taken at the liquid pool temperature of 7 °C on horizontal tubes of 152 mm length and 18.6–18.8 mm outside diameter at heat fluxes of 10–80 kW m⁻² with an interval of 10 kW m⁻² in the decreasing order of heat flux. For a plain and low fin tubes, refrigerants with higher vapor pressures showed higher nucleate boiling HTCs consistently. This was due to the fact that the wall superheat required to activate given size cavities became smaller as pressure increased. For Turbo-B and Thermoexcel-E tubes, HFC125 showed a peculiar behavior exhibiting much reduced HTCs due to its high reduced pressure. The heat transfer enhancement ratios of the low fin, Turbo-B, and Thermoexcel-E tubes were 1.09–1.68, 1.77–5.41, 1.64–8.77 respectively in the range of heat fluxes tested.     

Heat exchanger for subcooling liquid nitrogen with a regenerative cryocooler

A heat exchanger for continuously subcooling liquid nitrogen in contact with a regenerative cryocooler is analytically investigated as a next step of our recent experimental works. Since the coldhead of regenerative cryocooler has a limited surface area, a cylindrical copper cup is attached as extended surface, and a tube for liquid flow is spirally wound and brazed on the exterior surface of cylinder. Different sizes of heat exchangers are fabricated and tested with a single-stage GM cooler to cool liquid nitrogen from 78 K to 66 K. Analytical model is developed for the heat exchanger effectiveness and thermal resistance, and the results are compared with the experimental data. It is concluded that there exists an optimum for the height and diameter of cylindrical heat exchanger to maximize the cooling rate with a given unit of cryocooler.     

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.     

An experimental study on flow patterns and heat transfer characteristics during cryogenic chilldown in a vertical pipe

In the present paper, the experimental results of a cryogenic chilldown process are reported. The physical phenomena involve unsteady two-phase vapor–liquid flow and intense boiling heat transfer of the cryogenic fluid that is coupled with the transient heat conduction inside pipe walls. The objective for the present study is to compare the chilldown rates and flow patterns between the upward flow and downward flow in a vertical pipe. Liquid nitrogen is employed as the working fluid and the test section is a vertical straight segment of a Pyrex glass pipe with an inner diameter of 8 mm. The effects of mass flow rate on the flow patterns, heat transfer characteristics and interface movement were determined through experiments performed under several different mass flow rates. Through flow visualization, measurement and analysis on the flow patterns and temperature variations, a physical explanation of the vertical chilldown is given. By observing the process and analyzing the results, it is concluded that pipe chilldown in a vertical flow is similar to that in microgravity to some extent.     

Visualization of refrigerant flow at the capillary tube inlet of a high-efficiency household refrigerator

The subcooled condition at the condenser outlet ensures complete condensation, which is necessary in vapor compression systems to increase the cooling capacity and ensure the liquid conditions at the expansion device inlet. However, in household refrigerators, recent works indicate the presence of two-phase flow at the capillary tube inlet. These systems behave quite differently from other refrigeration systems due to the extremely low capacity. In the present work, a test bench was built to visualize the refrigerant flow at the condenser outlet and at the capillary tube inlet of a commercial household refrigerator. A transparent tube replaced the end of the condenser and three transparent filters were installed with different orientations. Different positions of the capillary tube within the filters were also tested. Despite measuring a certain subcooling, all the reported visualizations showed that the capillary tube was steadily drawing in two-phase flow.