Thermal design study of a liquid hydrogen-cooled cold-neutron source

The use of both liquid hydrogen as a moderator and polycrystalline beryllium as a filter to enhance cold neutron flux at the UC Davis McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center has been studied. Although, more work is needed before an actual cold neutron source can be designed and built, the purpose of this preliminary study is to investigate the effects of liquid hydrogen and the thickness of a beryllium filter on the cold neutron flux generated. Liquid hydrogen is kept at 20 K, while the temperature of beryllium is assumed to be 77 K in this study. Results from Monte Carlo simulations show that adding a liquid hydrogen vessel around the beam tube can increase cold neutron flux by more than an order of magnitude. As the thickness of the liquid hydrogen layer increases up to about half an inch, the flux of cold neutrons also increases. Increasing the layer thickness to more than half an inch gives no significant enhancement of cold neutron flux. Although, the simulations show that the cold neutron flux is almost independent of the thickness of beryllium at 77 K, the fraction of cold neutrons does drop along the beam tube. This may be due to the fact that the beam tube is not shielded for neutrons coming directly from the reactor core. Further design studies are necessary for to achieve complete filtering of undesired neutrons. A simple comparison analysis based on heat transfer due to neutron scattering and gamma-ray heating shows that the beryllium filter has a larger rate of change of temperature and its temperature is higher. As a result heat will be transferred from beryllium to liquid hydrogen, so that keeping liquid hydrogen at the desired temperature will be the most important step in the cooling process.     

Thermal design analysis of a 1 L cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank for an unmanned aerial vehicle

Thermal design analysis of a 1-L cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tank without vacuum insulation for a small unmanned aerial vehicle was carried out in the present study. To prevent excess boil-off of cryogenic liquid hydrogen, the storage tank consisted of a 1-L inner vessel, an outer vessel, insulation layers and a vapor-cooled shield. For a cryogenic storage tank considered in this study, the appropriate heat inleak was allowed to supply the boil-off gas hydrogen to a proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell as fuel. In an effort to accommodate the hydrogen mass flow rate required by the fuel cell and to minimize the storage tank volume, a thermal analysis for various insulation materials was implemented here and their insulation performances were compared. The present thermal analysis showed that the Aerogel thermal insulations provided outstanding performance at the non-vacuum atmospheric pressure condition. With the Aerogel insulation, the tank volume for storing 1-L liquid hydrogen at 20 K could be designed within a storage tank volume of 7.2 L. In addition, it was noted that the exhaust temperature of boil-off hydrogen gas was mainly affected by the location of a vapor-cooled shield as well as thermal conductivity of insulation materials.     

Liquid hydrogen as a vehicular fuel—a challenge for cryogenic engineering

Present and developing technologies of liquid hydrogen onboard storage and handling are reviewed. Substantial improvement in operating hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines can be made by intense use of the cold hydrogen gas available from the LH₂-fuel tank. Because of the large heat sink capability of liquid hydrogen the volumetric heating value of the cylinder charge can be increased considerably even for external mixture formation. Further success in hydrogen engine development will depend mainly upon the development of suitable internal fuel mixing techniques based on cryogenic liquid fuel injection pumps.     

Ignition and heat radiation of cryogenic hydrogen jets

In the present work release and ignition experiments with horizontal cryogenic hydrogen jets at temperatures of 35–65 K and pressures from 0.7 to 3.5 MPa were performed in the ICESAFE facility at KIT. This facility is specially designed for experiments under steady-state sonic release conditions with constant temperature and pressure in the hydrogen reservoir. In distribution experiments the temperature, velocity, turbulence and concentration distribution of hydrogen with different circular nozzle diameters and reservoir conditions was investigated for releases into stagnant ambient air. Subsequent combustion experiments of hydrogen jets included investigations on the stability of the flame and its propagation behaviour as function of the ignition position. Furthermore combustion pressures and heat radiation from the sonic jet flame during the combustion process were measured. Safety distances were evaluated and an extrapolation model to other jet conditions was proposed. The results of this work provide novel data on cryogenic sonic hydrogen jets and give information on the hazard potential arising from leaks in liquid hydrogen reservoirs.     

Buoyant instability in a laterally heated vertical cylinder

This paper presents a linear stability analysis for the buoyant convection in a vertical cylinder with isothermal top and bottom walls at the same temperature and with an axisymmetric heat transfer into the liquid from the vertical cylindrical wall. Results are presented for Prandtl numbers between 0.0 and 0.1 and for two different thermal boundary conditions at the vertical wall: a prescribed parabolic temperature variation or a prescribed parabolic radial heat flux variation. The results are radically different for the two thermal boundary conditions.     

Evaporating system for cryogenic support of long length HTS power cables

The paper deals with an analysis of the results of theoretical and experimental research on an evaporating system for cryogenic support as supplied to long length thermostatting channels of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables and hybrid power transmission lines as well as thermal control systems for cryogenic components in aircraft fuel tanks during long-term spaceflights. Experimental evidence for nitrogen and hydrogen are presented here. The importance of such research for practical application in developing modern cryostatting systems has been highlighted.The design of an experimental hybrid power transmission line for studying thermostatting of superconducting power cables has been considered in the paper. The transmission line contains three sections with different types of thermal insulation and current leads providing high current supply to superconducting threads with minimum external heat inflow. The unique experimental data on heat inflows from the outer surface of the transmission line in different sections has been obtained by the authors. It is shown that it may be possible to compensate fully for external heat inflow to a cryogenic line as well as to lower the temperature of a cryogenic coolant in the section with an evaporating system for cryogenic support. In order to determine the possible length of the cryostatting work field of a long length superconducting cable, estimates of using liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen as a working fluid for various mass flow rates of the coolant feed have been made via the mathematical model describing physical processes in a thermostatting channel using an evaporating system for cryogenic support. Calculation data on changes in the length of the long length temperature cryostat, pressure and cooling capacity of the evaporating cryostat system has been obtained.     

Experimental study on liquid/solid phase change for cold energy storage of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) refrigerated vehicle

The present paper addresses an experimental investigation of the cold storage with liquid/solid phase change of water based on the cold energy recovery of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) refrigerated vehicles. Water as phase change material (PCM) was solidified outside the heat transfer tubes that were internally cooled by cryogenic nitrogen gas substituting cryogenic natural gas. The ice layer profiles were recorded in different cross-sections observed by digital cameras. The temperatures of cryogenic gas, tube wall and bulk region were measured by embedded thermocouples continuously. The results of the smooth tube experiments and the thermal resistance analysis prove that the main thermal resistance occurs in the gaseous heat transfer fluid (HTF) inner the tube. The enhancement of the inner heat transfer is achieved by adding wave-like internal fins. Besides, the results show that the ice layer not only increases in radial direction but also propagates in axial direction. It distributes in parabolic shape along the tube length due to the parabolic axial distribution of the tube wall temperatures. This investigation provides valuable references for the design and optimization of the cold energy storage unit of LNG refrigerated vehicles and for the numerical study on the unsteady two-dimensional conjugated heat transfer with phase change.     

Determination of heat transfer coefficients for hydrogen condensation in condensers of various geometries

An important task for the hydrogen isotopes separation by cryogenic distillation is to establish the shape and dimension of the column condenser and boiler in order to obtain the desired load and separation for the distillation column. In the paper we present the set-up and experimental values for the heat transfer coefficient on various types of condensers. The heat transfer coefficients were determined by measurements on liquid hydrogen flow-rate condensed on the cold surface and temperature drop between the cooling liquid and the condensate. The experiments were made for different vapor pressures and certain temperatures of the cooling liquid from the condenser. As results we determined the condensation heat transfer coefficients for different shapes and geometries of the condensers as a function of the condensate film temperature drop.     

填充开孔泡沫铝的固液相变蓄冷器设计与实验研究

为进一步满足固液相变蓄冷器需求,在计算固液相变蓄冷器漏热的基础上进行了相应优化,使用开孔泡沫铝作为固液相变蓄冷器填充材料,搭建实验台进行不同负载功率下的液氮固体蓄冷系统性能实验研究。实验结果表明：所设计的固体蓄冷系统能够在0.5 W的热负载下工作4.23 h; 2 W热负载实验条件下,固体蓄冷系统能够在温度小于65 K条件下工作1 h。     

Thermodynamic performance on the pressurized discharge process from a cryogenic fuel storage tank

Due to excellent performance, cryogenic propellants, such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, are widely used in aerospace engineering. However, low storage temperature and low kinetic viscosity bring a lot of technique issues for high efficient thermal management on cryogen. An actual cryogenic fuel storage tank is selected as the research object, and a two-dimensional axial symmetrical computational model is established to study the pressurized discharge process, by adopting the volume of fluid (VOF) model. Both external environment heat leakage and the heat exchange occurring between the liquid and vapor are considered. Compared to the experimental results, the relative error is limited in 20.0%. Based on the developed numerical model, the temperature variation and heat flux through the insulation and tank wall, the pressurized discharge performance and the fluid temperature distribution are analyzed. The results show that during the pressurized discharge process, the lowest temperature appears in the inner side of the foam, and the external heat invasion does not absolutely penetrate into the tank. The vapor mass experiences fluctuating variations, and the vapor is always in condensation. In the first 200s, the temperature of the outflow fluid keeps constant, and then increases gradually. Under the present initial setting, the violent boiling phenomenon does not form during the whole process. The present study is significant to the depth understanding on the pressurized discharge of cryogenic fuels.     

Effect of heat transfer through the release pipe on simulations of cryogenic hydrogen jet fires and hazard distances

Jet flames originated by cryo-compressed ignited hydrogen releases can cause life-threatening conditions in their surroundings. Validated models are needed to accurately predict thermal hazards from a jet fire. Numerical simulations of cryogenic hydrogen flow in the release pipe are performed to assess the effect of heat transfer through the pipe walls on jet parameters. Notional nozzle exit diameter is calculated based on the simulated real nozzle parameters and used in CFD simulations as a boundary condition to model jet fires. The CFD model was previously validated against experiments with vertical cryogenic hydrogen jet fires with release pressures up to 0.5 MPa (abs), release diameter 1.25 mm and temperatures as low as 50 K. This study validates the CFD model in a wider domain of experimental release conditions - horizontal cryogenic jets at exhaust pipe temperature 80 K, pressure up to 2 MPa ab and release diameters up to 4 mm. Simulation results are compared against such experimentally measured parameters as hydrogen mass flow rate, flame length and radiative heat flux at different locations from the jet fire. The CFD model reproduces experiments with reasonable for engineering applications accuracy. Jet fire hazard distances established using three different criteria - temperature, thermal radiation and thermal dose - are compared and discussed based on CFD simulation results.     

Fluid thermal stratification in a non-isothermal liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation

To the safe space operation of cryogenic storage tank, it is significant to study fluid thermal stratification under external heat leaks. In the present paper, a numerical model is established to investigate the thermal performance in a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation. The interface phase change and the external convection heat transfer are considered. To realize fluid sloshing, the dynamic mesh coupled the volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to predict the interface fluctuations. A sinusoidal excitation is implemented via customized user-defined function (UDF) and applied on tank wall. The grid sensitivity study and the experimental validation of the numerical mode are made. It turns out that the present numerical model can be used to simulate the unsteady process in a non-isothermal sloshing tank. Variations of tank pressure, liquid and vapor mass, fluid temperature and thermal stratification are numerically investigated respectively. The results show that the sinusoidal excitation has caused large influence on thermal performance in liquid hydrogen tank. Some valuable conclusions are arrived, which is important to the depth understanding of the non-isothermal performance in a sloshing liquid hydrogen tank and may supply some technique reference for the methods of sloshing suppression.     

Effect of gas injection mass flow rates on the thermal behavior in a cryogenic fuel storage tank

Large scale using of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen on energy engineering, chemical engineering and petrochemical industries, bring a series of non-equilibrium thermal behaviors within fuel storage tanks. Accurate simulation on the thermal behavior in cryogenic fuel storage tanks is therefore a critical issue to improve the operation safety. In the present study, a 2-dimensional numerical model is developed to predict the active pressurization process and fluid thermal stratification in an aerospace fuel storage tank. Both external heat penetration and heat exchange occurring at the interface are accounted for in detail. The volume of fluid method is adopted to predict the thermal physical process with high-temperature gas injected into the tank. The effect of the gas injection mass flow rate on the tank pressure, the interface phase change, and the fluid temperature distribution are investigated respectively. Finally, some valuable conclusions are obtained. The present study may supply some technique references for the design of the pressurization system.     

柴油机余热冷却系统对缸套热应力的影响研究

为研究余热冷却系统的使用可能对缸套造成的风险,建立了缸套有限元分析模型,对缸套温度场进行稳态仿真分析,并通过试验验证了模型的准确性.在稳态计算的基础上对缸套进行瞬态热应力仿真分析,结果表明:余热冷却系统运行时,缸套的热应力迅速降低,最大热应力远小于缸套材料的极限强度.该冷却系统对柴油机缸套而言是安全的.     

Thermodynamic analysis and assessment of novel ORC- DEC integrated PEMFC system for liquid hydrogen fueled ship application

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and liquid hydrogen are gaining attention as a power generation system and alternative fuel of ship. This study proposes a novel PEMFC system, integrated with the organic Rankine cycle–direct expansion cycle (ORC-DEC), which exploits cold exergy from liquid hydrogen and low temperature waste heat generated by the PEMFC for application in a liquid hydrogen fueled ship. A thermodynamic model of each subsystem was established and analyzed from the economic, energy, and exergy viewpoints. Moreover, parametric analysis was performed to identify the effects of certain key parameters, such as the working fluid in the ORC, pressure exerted by the fuel pump, cooling water temperature of the PEMFC, and the stack current density on the system performance. The results showed that the proposed system could generate 221 kW of additional power. The overall system achieved an exergy and energy efficiency of 43.52 and 40.45%, respectively. The PEMFC system had the largest exergy destruction, followed by the cryogenic heat exchanger. Propane showed the best performance among the several investigated ORC working fluids and the system performance improved with the increase in the cooling water temperature of the PEMFC. The economic analysis showed that the average payback time of ORC-DEC was 11.2 years and the average net present value (NPV) was $295,268 at liquid hydrogen costing $3 to $7, showing the potential viability of the system.     

A combined experimental and numerical study of thermal processes, performance and nitric oxide emissions in a hydrogen-fueled spark-ignition engine

This work concerns the study of a spark-ignition engine fueled with hydrogen, using both measured and numerical data at various conditions, focusing on the combustion efficiency, the heat transfer phenomena and heat loss to the cylinder walls, the performance, as well as the nitric oxide (NO) emissions formed, when the fuel/air and compression ratio are varied. For the investigation of the heat transfer mechanism, the local wall temperatures and heat flux rates were measured at three locations of the cylinder liner in a CFR engine. These fluxes can provide a reliable estimation of the total heat loss through the cylinder walls and of the hydrogen flame arrival at specific locations. Together with the experimental analysis, the numerical results obtained from a validated in-house CFD code were utilized for gaining a more complete view of the heat transfer mechanism and the hydrogen combustion efficiency for the various cases examined. The performance of the CFR engine is then identified, since the calculated cylinder pressures are compared with the measured ones, from which performance and heat release rates are calculated and discussed. Further, NO emission studies have been accomplished, with the calculated results not only being compared with the measured exhaust NO ones, but also further processed for conducting an in-depth investigation of the dependence of NO production on the spatial distribution of in-cylinder gas temperature. It is revealed that for lower fuel/air ratio the burned gas temperature is held at low level and the heat loss ratio is quite low. As the load increases and stoichiometric mixtures are used, the wall and in-cylinder gas temperatures increase substantially, together with the heat loss and the NO emissions, owing to the high hydrogen combustion velocity and the consequent high rate of temperature rise. The combustion efficiency is slightly increased, but the indicated efficiency is decreased due to higher heat loss.     

Parametric studies on a metal hydride based single stage hydrogen compressor

Influence of operating parameters such as heat source and sink temperatures, operating pressures, pressure ratios, cycle time, and bed parameters such as overall heat transfer coefficient, bed thickness and thermal conductivity, on the performance of a single stage hydrogen compressor is presented. Coupled heat and mass transfer and reaction kinetics are considered for the analysis. An AB₂-type alloy, Ti_0.98Zr_0.02V_0.43Fe_0.09Cr_0.05Mn_1.5 is chosen as an example. At a given pressure ratio, the hydrogen throughput increases with hot fluid temperature and decreases with increase in cold fluid temperature. Optimum values of thermal conductivity and overall heat transfer coefficient exist for any given hot and cold fluid temperatures. Among the variables studied, heat transfer fluid temperature, bed thickness and supply pressure are found to exert significant influence on the compressor performance.     

Forced convective mixing in a zero boil-off cryogenic storage tank

This paper presents the results of a study of fluid flow and heat transfer of liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic storage tank with a heat pipe and an array of pump-nozzle units. A forced flow is directed onto the evaporator section of the heat pipe to prevent the liquid from boiling off when heat leaks through the tank wall insulation from the surroundings. An axisymmetric computational model was developed for the simulation of convective heat transfer in the system. Steady-state velocity and temperature fields were solved from this model by using the finite element method. Forty five configurations of geometry and velocity were considered. As the nozzle fluid speed increases, the values of the maximum, average, and spatial standard deviation of the temperature field decrease nonlinearly. Parametric analysis indicates that overall thermal performance of the system can be significantly improved by reducing the gap between the nozzle and the heat pipe, while maintaining the same fluid speed exiting the nozzle. It is also indicated that increased inlet tube length of the pump-nozzle unit results in slightly better thermal performance. Increased heat pipe length also improves thermal performance but only for low fluid speed.     

CFD simulation of heat transfer and phase change characteristics of the cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank under microgravity conditions

The heat transfer and phase change processes of cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH₂) in the tank have an important influence on the working performance of the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen storage and supply system of rockets and spacecrafts. In this study, we use the RANS method coupled with Lee model and VOF (volume of fraction) method to solve Navier-stokes equations. The Lee model is adopted to describe the phase change process of liquid hydrogen, and the VOF method is utilized to calculate free surface by solving the advection equation of volume fraction. The model is used to simulate the heat transfer and phase change processes of the cryogenic liquid hydrogen in the storage tank with the different gravitational accelerations, initial temperature, and liquid fill ratios of liquid hydrogen. Numerical results indicate greater gravitational acceleration enhances buoyancy and convection, enhancing convective heat transfer and evaporation processes in the tank. When the acceleration of gravity increases from 10^?2 g0 to 10^?5 g0, gaseous hydrogen mass increases from 0.0157 kg to 0.0244 kg at 200s. With the increase of initial liquid hydrogen temperature, the heat required to raise the liquid hydrogen to saturation temperature decreases and causes more liquid hydrogen to evaporate and cools the gas hydrogen temperature. More cryogenic liquid hydrogen (i.e., larger the fill ratio) makes the average fluid temperature in the tank lower. A 12.5% reduction in the fill ratio resulted in a decrease in fluid temperature from 20.35 K to 20.15 K (a reduction of about 0.1%, at 200s).     

Analytical and computational methodology for modeling spray quenching of solid alloy cylinders

Heat-treating of solid alloy cylinders is an important practical problem for which no optimal production methods have been developed, especially in terms of the most crucial quenching stage. This study explores the use of spray quenching as an alternative to the commonly used bath quenching, which is known to yield relatively slow quench rates and provide few options for spatial optimization of cooling rate. A carefully configured spray cooling system is examined, which provides maximum coverage of the surface of a solid alloy cylinder with full-cone pressure sprays. A new analytical model is derived to determine the shape and size of the spray impact zone, as well as the distribution of volumetric flux across the curved surface of the cylinder. This distribution is combined with heat transfer correlations for all spray boiling regimes to generate a local boiling curve for every location across the impact surface. Using these boiling curves as boundary conditions, a transient analysis is conducted for aluminum alloy and steel cylinders. Increasing the nozzle pressure drop or decreasing the orifice-to-surface distance are shown to hasten the exit from the poor film boiling regime to the more efficient transition boiling regime, resulting in a quicker quench. Relatively high thermal diffusivity causes faster transmission of the spray cooling effect through the cylinder and milder temperature gradients in aluminum compared to steel. This also causes the outer surface to cool earlier but deeper points much slower for steel. Large temperature gradients are encountered on the surface during the quench because of different boiling regimes occurring at different locations exposed to the spray. This study highlights several practical advantages of spray quenching compared with bath quenching, including the ability to achieve a wide range of fast quench rates, uniformity and predictability of quench rate, and the ability to predict and guard against imperfections caused by thermal stresses.