Effect of insulation thickness on pressure evolution and thermal stratification in a cryogenic tank

A transient analytical, multi-phase, thermodynamic model of foam insulated liquid hydrogen tank is developed to understand the effect of insulation thickness on the evolution of tank pressure and liquid thermal stratification. The model is validated with experimental data reported in literature. Ana...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied thermal engineering 2017-01, Vol.111, p.1629-1639
Main Authors: Joseph, Jeswin, Agrawal, Gagan, Agarwal, Deepak Kumar, Pisharady, J.C., Sunil Kumar, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cryogenic tank
Insulation
Liquid hydrogen
Self-pressurisation
Thermal stratification
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Summary:A transient analytical, multi-phase, thermodynamic model of foam insulated liquid hydrogen tank is developed to understand the effect of insulation thickness on the evolution of tank pressure and liquid thermal stratification. The model is validated with experimental data reported in literature. Analyses are carried out for pressurization considering two scenarios: first case with tank vent port closed after pressurization to study the pressure evolution and the second case for a constant tank pressure of 3.0bar to study the growth of liquid thermal stratification. Both cases are investigated for different tank insulation thicknesses of 10mm, 20mm, 30mm and 40mm and with a pressurization gas temperature of 50K. Effects of variations in ambient wind velocity and presence of solar flux on self-pressurization profile of the tank are also analysed. The study shows that the reduction in insulation thickness leads to increase in stratified mass. The study also brings out significant increase in pressure rise when tank is insulated with lower insulation thickness.
ISSN:1359-4311
DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.07.015