A novel cryogenic insulation system of hollow glass microspheres and self-evaporation vapor-cooled shield for liquid hydrogen storage

doi:10.1007/s11708-019-0642-y

Front. Energy

2020, Vol. 14

Issue (3) : 570-577 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-019-0642-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A novel cryogenic insulation system of hollow glass microspheres and self-evaporation vapor-cooled shield for liquid hydrogen storage

Jianpeng ZHENG¹, Liubiao CHEN²(

), Ping WANG³, Jingjie ZHANG³, Junjie WANG¹(

), Yuan ZHOU¹

¹. Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
². Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Beijing 100190, China
³. Chinese Academy of Sciences State Key Laboratory of Technologies in Space Cryogenic Propellants, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Beijing 100190, China

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Abstract

Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) attracts widespread attention because of its highest energy storage density. However, evaporation loss is a serious problem in LH₂ storage due to the low boiling point (20 K). Efficient insulation technology is an important issue in the study of LH₂ storage. Hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) is a potential promising thermal insulation material because of its low apparent thermal conductivity, fast installation (Compared with multi-layer insulation, it can be injected in a short time.), and easy maintenance. A novel cryogenic insulation system consisting of HGMs and a self-evaporating vapor-cooled shield (VCS) is proposed for storage of LH₂. A thermodynamic model has been established to analyze the coupled heat transfer characteristics of HGMs and VCS in the composite insulation system. The results show that the combination of HGMs and VCS can effectively reduce heat flux into the LH₂ tank. With the increase of VCS number from 1 to 3, the minimum heat flux through HGMs decreases by 57.36%, 65.29%, and 68.21%, respectively. Another significant advantage of HGMs is that their thermal insulation properties are not sensitive to ambient vacuum change. When ambient vacuum rises from 10⁻³ Pa to 1 Pa, the heat flux into the LH₂ tank increases by approximately 20%. When the vacuum rises from 10⁻³ Pa to 100 Pa, the combination of VCS and HGMs reduces the heat flux into the tank by 58.08%–69.84% compared with pure HGMs.

Keywords liquid hydrogen storage hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) self-evaporation vapor-cooled shield (VCS) thermodynamic optimization

Corresponding Author(s): Liubiao CHEN,Junjie WANG

Online First Date: 30 August 2019 Issue Date: 14 September 2020

Cite this article:

Jianpeng ZHENG,Liubiao CHEN,Ping WANG, et al. A novel cryogenic insulation system of hollow glass microspheres and self-evaporation vapor-cooled shield for liquid hydrogen storage[J]. Front. Energy, 2020, 14(3): 570-577.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-019-0642-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2020/V14/I3/570

Fig.1 Schematic of the proposed novel composite insulation system.

Fig.2 Heat transfer flowchart of the proposed novel composite insulation system.

Fig.3 Heat flux through HGMs with one VCS.

Fig.4 Position optimization in HGMs with one VCS.

Fig.5 Optimized insulation performance of HGMs with different VCSs.

Fig.6 Insulation performance of HGMs with different thickness.

Fig.7 Temperature profile through HGMs under different conditions.

Fig.8 Insulation performance at different hot boundary temperatures.

Fig.9 Thermal properties of LH₂ at different pressures.

Fig.10 Insulation performance at different LH₂ pressures.

Fig.11 Insulation performance of the LH₂ tank at different volumes.

Fig.12 Insulation performance of HGMs at different vacuum degrees.

Tab.1 Heat flux into LH₂ tank at different vacuum degrees

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