Fluid sloshing dynamic performance in a liquid hydrogen tank

In the present study, a numerical model is built to investigate the hydrodynamic performance in a sloshing liquid hydrogen tank under a sinusoidal excitation. The motion mesh coupled the volume of fluid method is adopted to capture the fluctuation of the free surface during sloshing. The sloshing dynamic response of the free surface is specially evaluated. Meanwhile, the sloshing force and moment, and pressure variation are numerically studied. The results show that the free surface has stable interface shapes with “Z” or “S” type profiles in the initial period. As time elapses, the sinusoidal wave propagates, some disturbances occur at the interface with different wave amplitudes. For fluid close to the tank wall, it suffers much more from external excitation with large amplitude fluctuations. For the symmetrically distributed measuring points, opposite fluctuating profiles form with almost the same amplitude. Influenced by fluid motion, the point of the maximum liquid pressure makes fluctuations as well. The measuring points far from the symmetry axis of the tank have severe fluctuating variations. With some valuable conclusions arrived, the present study is significant to the in-depth comprehension on fluid sloshing dynamical behavior in non-isothermal cryogenic tanks.     

Thermodynamic characteristic in a cryogenic storage tank under an intermittent sloshing excitation

A numerical calculation model is developed to study the coupled thermal dynamic performance in a cryogenic fuel tank under an intermittent sloshing excitation. Both external heat inputs and the intermittent excitation are realized by User-defined functions. The volume of fluid method is adopted to simulate fluid sloshing, coupled with the mesh motion treatment. Validated against related fluid sloshing experiments, the numerical model was turned out to be acceptable on fluid sloshing prediction. Cooled by subcooled liquid, vapor is always in condensation. The middle vapor pressure test point suffers less from the intermittent excitation and has a linear pressure decrease profile, while the middle liquid pressure test point has fluctuating variations. For vapor and interface temperature monitors, obvious temperature fluctuations appear in the second holding period. While for liquid test points, the temperature profiles experience intensive fluctuations during sloshing periods and stable temperature variation during holding periods. Due to the holding period of external excitation, the tank pressure reduction in intermittent sloshing case is less than that in continuous sloshing case. That is to say the tank pressure decrease rate could be adjusted by proper intermittent excitation. This work is significant to deeply understand fluid sloshing phenomenon under some irregular external excitations in fuel storage tanks.     

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.     

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.     

Fluid sloshing thermo-mechanical characteristic in a cryogenic fuel storage tank under different gravity acceleration levels

Fluid sloshing usually causes serious safety issues on the dynamic stability and propellant thermal management during the powered-flight phase of launch vehicle. With the wide using of cryogenic propellants, the coupled thermo-mechanical performance during fluid sloshing becomes more prominent. In the present study, one numerical model is established to simulate fluid sloshing by using the VOF method coupled with the mesh motion treatment. The phase change occurring within the tank is considered. Both the experimental validation and mesh sensitivity analysis are made. It shows that present numerical model is acceptable. Based on the developed numerical model, the effect of different super gravity accelerations on fluid sloshing hydrodynamic characteristic is numerically researched. The fluid pressure variation, the sloshing force and sloshing moment, the interface dynamic response and the interface shape variation are investigated, respectively. It shows that the gravity acceleration has caused obvious influences on fluid sloshing characteristic. When the gravity acceleration is higher than 4g₀, fluid sloshing becomes more obvious and must be paid enough attention. With some valuable conclusions obtained, the present work is of great significance for in-depth understanding of fluid sloshing mechanism.     

Studies on Thermal Stratification Phenomenon in LH2 Storage Vessel

A study of convective heat transfer in a cryogenic storage vessel is carried out numerically and experimentally. A scaled down model study is performed using water as the model fluid in a rectangular glass tank heated from the sides. The convective flow and the resulting thermal stratification phenomenon in the rectangular tank are studied through flow visualization, temperature measurement, and corresponding numerical simulations. It is found that a vortex-like flow near the top surface leads to a well-mixed region there, below which the fluid is thermally stratified. In addition, in an attempt to simulate the actual conditions, a numerical study is performed on a cylindrical cavity filled with liquid hydrogen (LH₂) and heated from the sides. The results are compared with our model study with water, and the qualitative agreement is found to be good.     

Numerical approach to analyze fluid flow in a type C tank for liquefied hydrogen carrier (part 1: Sloshing flow)

The demand for clean energy use has been increasing worldwide, and hydrogen has attracted attention as an alternative energy source. The efficient transport of hydrogen must be established such that hydrogen may be used as an energy source. In this study, we considered the influences of various parameters in the transportation of liquefied hydrogen using type C tanks in shipping vessels. The sloshing and thermal flows were considered in the transportation of liquefied hydrogen, which exists as a cryogenic liquid at ?253 °C. In this study, the sloshing flow was analyzed using a numerical approach. A multiphase sloshing simulation was performed using the volume of fluid method for the observation and analysis of the internal flow. First, a sloshing experiment according to the gas-liquid density ratio performed by other researchers was utilized to verify the simulation technique and investigate the characteristics of liquefied hydrogen. Based on the results of this experiment, a sloshing simulation was then performed for a type C cargo tank for liquefied hydrogen carriers under three different filling level conditions. The sloshing impact pressure inside of the tank was measured via simulation and subjected to statistical analysis. In addition, the influence of sloshing flow on the appendages installed inside of the type C tank (stiffened ring and swash bulkhead) was quantitatively evaluated. In particular, the influence of the sloshing flow inside of the type C tank on the appendages can be utilized as an important indicator at the design stage. Furthermore, if such sloshing impact forces are repeatedly experienced over an extended period of time under cryogenic conditions, the behavior of the tank and appendages must be analyzed in terms of fatigue and brittle failure to ensure the safety of the transportation operation.     

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.     

Numerical analysis of convective flow and thermal stratification in a cryogenic storage tank

In this study, the liquid–vapor mixture model was used for a numerical study of natural convective flow in a cryogenic tank with a capacity of 4.9?m³ under various conditions of heat flux and filling level to understand the early stages of convective flow phenomena and the consequent thermal stratification of cryogenic liquid. Two cryogens—liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied nitrogen (LN₂)—were compared to observe their effects. LN₂ exhibited faster vaporization owing to its lower heat of vaporization. It was observed that higher heat flux and lower filling level led to faster vaporization and relatively vigorous heat transfer, showing early thermal stratification.     

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.     

Numerical investigation of the coupled heat transfer of liquefied gas storage tanks

It is a common situation that the liquefied gas tanks are always heated by the outer hot environments, which affecting the safety of the tanks. In this paper, numerical studies were conducted to reveal the heat transfer characteristics of this circumstance. The coupled heat transfer process among the thermal environment, the tank wall and the fluid in the tank was thoroughly investigated by simultaneously solving the temperature fields of both the solid region and the fluid region as well as the flow fields of both the liquid phase and the vapor phase inner the tank. The results showed that affected by the near wall flow and the wall boiling, the heat transfer presented different patterns in the stable thermal stratification stage and the de-stratification stage. In the stable stratification stage, the heat flux from the liquid phase wall to the medium distributed uniformly along the axial direction of the tank, while in the de-stratification stage, it differed a lot at the different positions.     

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).     

Thermal stratification in a hot water tank established by heat loss from the tank

This paper presents numerical investigations of thermal stratification in a vertical cylindrical hot water tank established by standby heat loss from the tank. The transient fluid flow and heat transfer in the tank during cooling caused by standby heat loss are calculated by means of validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The measured heat loss coefficient for the different parts of the tank is used as input to the CFD model. Parametric studies are carried out using the validated models to investigate the influence on thermal stratification of the tank by the downward flow and the corresponding upward flow in the central parts of the tank. Tank design parameters such as tank volume, height to diameter ratio and insulation and different initial conditions of the tank are investigated.It is elucidated how thermal stratification in the tank is influenced by the natural convection and how the heat loss from the tank sides will be distributed at different levels of the tank at different thermal conditions. The results show that 20–55% of the side heat loss drops to layers below in the part of the tank without the presence of thermal stratification. A heat loss removal factor is introduced to characterize the effect of the buoyancy driven flow on exchange of heat loss between tank layers by natural convection. Based on results of the parametric studies, a generalized equation for the heat loss removal factor is obtained by regression which takes into account the influences of tank volume, height to diameter ratio, tank insulation and initial conditions of the tank. The equation is validated for a 150–500 l tank insulated with 0–7 cm mineral wool and a tank height to diameter ratio of 1–5. The equation will be implemented in an existing tank optimization and design program for calculation of thermal performance of a hot water tank.     

Thermal stratification suppression in reduced or zero boil-off hydrogen tank by self-spinning spray bar

Thermal stratification of cryogenic propellants under the condition of external heat leakage is a dominating factor pressurizing the storage tank, which hinders long-term on-orbit storage missions for future explorations. Whether a thermodynamic venting system or cryocooler is introduced to reduce the boil-off losses or even realize zero boil-off of the cryogens, an efficient mixing and heat-exchanging device is a prerequisite for eliminating thermal stratification. Usually, a subcooled stream is introduced, which is injected into the tank through the nozzles on a spray bar. Early research provided evidence that the cooling effect is related to the arrangement of the nozzles. In contrast to adopting a heavy plate spray bar to realize the temperature profile symmetry along the tank axis, this study proposes an assembly with a rotatable nozzle head to diminish the temperature non-uniformity in the tank. In this manner, over 70% of the spray bar payload can be saved compared to the plate configuration. A three-dimensional model was established to investigate the temperature distribution of liquid hydrogen at zero gravity in a tank containing such a rotatable sprayer, which was passively driven by the counterforce of the injection flow, and therefore excluded an extra power drive demand. The injection inlet velocity, as well as the length and quantity of the nozzle arms, were analyzed parametrically to optimize the destratification performance. By employing the self-spinning sprayer, the standard deviation of the temperature in the tank could be lowered, along with the benefits of a significant payload reduction and elimination of direct power input.     

A storage tank for vehicular storage of liquid hydrogen

This article outlines a concept for a new method of fabricating cryogenic liquid hydrogen storge tanks with emphasis on the application of liquid hydrogen as an automotive fuel. It includes a recapitulation of the properties of hydrogen and gasoline for reference, a discussion of automotive fuel utilisation rates, a thermal analysis of the liquid hydrogen boil-off rate for a reference storage container and the new concept tank. In addition, an analysis of the tank concept and its method of assembly line fabrication are provided. The conclusions reached are that this fabrication concept would provide a liquid hydrogen storage tank of improved thermal performance, that the tank could be potentially less expensive to build than current technology tanks, and that the tank would be suitable for automotive containment of liquid hydrogen.     

Cryogenic thermal analysis of the HANARO cold neutron moderator cell

Accurate prediction of a temperature distribution is very important for investigating the heat transfer characteristics in a cryogenic system such as a cold neutron moderator cell. The cold neutron moderator cell is a 13.2-cm-diameter cylinder with the liquid hydrogen in it contained by an aluminum alloy cell. It will be placed in a cold neutron hole that is inside the heavy water reflector tank of HANARO. The liquid hydrogen serves both as a neutron moderator and a single-phase cryogenic coolant for the cold neutron moderator cell. For the cold neutron moderator cell, its interactions with neutrons and gamma-rays produce a heat load of 629 W on the aluminum alloy cell and liquid hydrogen itself. A half of the cold neutron moderator cell was modeled with a three-dimensional axisymmetric cylinder geometry by using the HEATING 7.3 code. A numerical analysis was performed to determine the temperature distribution over the entire inner surface of the moderator cell, whose moderator and cell walls are heated differently, under a steady-state operating condition. This paper presents the steady-state temperature distribution for providing the cryogenic thermal analysis and for supporting the thermal stress analysis of the moderator cell walls.     

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.     

A computational fluid dynamic study of the filling of a gaseous hydrogen tank under two contrasted scenarios

The filling of a horizontal hydrogen tank designed for light duty vehicles is investigated by means of multi-physics numerical simulations. The simulation approach, implemented in OpenFOAM, includes compressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) modeling of the fluid flow and heat transfer in the solid parts. The simulations are carried out for 2D-axisymmetric and 3D configurations. Two filling scenarios of the tank, leading to two distinct thermal behaviors, i.e. homogeneous versus heterogeneous, are simulated and compared to the experimental data issued from the HyTransfer project. In the homogeneous case, where no thermal stratification occurs, the 2D and 3D simulation results are close to the experimental ones. A phenomenon of jet flapping is identified via the 3D simulation. In the heterogeneous case, where thermal stratification occurs, the 3D simulation captures an averaged temperature close to the experimental one, as well as the instant at which the thermal gradients appear. It also captures the deflection of the jet, which is a central element in the emergence of the thermal gradients.     

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.     

液氮、液氢加注系统数值仿真与试验研究

以低温液氮加注系统为研究对象,通过FLUENT仿真与试验研究,结果表明：数值仿真与试验结果吻合良好,小流量预冷液氮温度升高约5 K,一定过冷度与低漏热率对单相加注具有重要作用。以低温储液瓶为研究对象,对“加注过程”进行仿真与试验,结果表明：加注初期液位高度低于临界液位,加注对整个流场扰动较大,加剧了储液瓶内部对流换热,液相区有气泡形成,部分气相二次液化,瓶内暂无温度分层;加注中后期,气液交界面趋于稳定,液相区无明显气泡,气相区无明显二次液化且温度逐渐形成分层;数值仿真与试验的液氮蒸发率分别约为1.7%和1.5%,具有较好一致性。基于液氮分析经验,对液氢“加注过程”进行仿真预测,结果表明：液氮、液氢加注过程储液瓶内部液相率与温度具有相似变化规律,液氮加注分析对液氢加注具有一定参考意义。