Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Storage
(2023) KETM05 20231Chemical Engineering (M.Sc.Eng.)
- Abstract
- Liquid hydrogen is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels in the aviation industry, but storing it both before and during flights introduces many challenges pertaining to the cryogenic liquid conditions required. Having reliable models to predict the dynamical behavior inside the storage tank is therefore of great interest.
This thesis covers the development of a low-dimensional model for a liquid hydrogen storage tank capable of describing boil-off and self-pressurization dynamics by taking into account thermal stratification effects brought on by natural convection. The model uses experimentally derived correlations to estimate the flow characteristics and heat transfer of the liquid domain by dividing it into several horizontal... (More) - Liquid hydrogen is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels in the aviation industry, but storing it both before and during flights introduces many challenges pertaining to the cryogenic liquid conditions required. Having reliable models to predict the dynamical behavior inside the storage tank is therefore of great interest.
This thesis covers the development of a low-dimensional model for a liquid hydrogen storage tank capable of describing boil-off and self-pressurization dynamics by taking into account thermal stratification effects brought on by natural convection. The model uses experimentally derived correlations to estimate the flow characteristics and heat transfer of the liquid domain by dividing it into several horizontal control volumes. Additionally it tries to incorporate highly non-equilibrium descriptions of the evaporation/condensation phenomena at the interface and a non-conventional discretization approach to solve for the temperature profile close to said interface is suggested.
Validation showed that the model can produce results closely matching experimental self-pressurization data when calibrated parameters are employed, but not necessarily for all experimental setups. Furthermore, the model was successfully utilized to simulate several common storage scenarios and generate data for analysis. Recurring issues with model robustness encumbers the flexibility and usefulness of the model, and as such more work is required on its development. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Transitioning away from fossil fuels is an important step in the ongoing battle to minimize global effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Liquid hydrogen is believed to one day play a key role in this transitioning process, especially as a potential alternative fuel source for air travel. A problem with liquid hydrogen is that storing it, either on the ground or onboard an aircraft, comes with many new challenges due to the extreme temperature conditions and resulting processes happening inside the storage tank. It is therefore of great interest that there exists models that can be used to predict these processes.
This thesis work presents the creation of a model that is able to simulate the inner dynamics of a liquid hydrogen storage... (More) - Transitioning away from fossil fuels is an important step in the ongoing battle to minimize global effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Liquid hydrogen is believed to one day play a key role in this transitioning process, especially as a potential alternative fuel source for air travel. A problem with liquid hydrogen is that storing it, either on the ground or onboard an aircraft, comes with many new challenges due to the extreme temperature conditions and resulting processes happening inside the storage tank. It is therefore of great interest that there exists models that can be used to predict these processes.
This thesis work presents the creation of a model that is able to simulate the inner dynamics of a liquid hydrogen storage tank. With the help of well established theory, mathematical modeling and experimental observations the model can be used to describe pressure and temperature change in a tank as it is exposed to environmental conditions. It also introduces an interesting suggestion on how to model evaporation and condensation of the hydrogen.
The model can reproduce pressure and temperature results similar to those seen in experimental studies of liquid hydrogen storage when certain predefined parameters are used. Additionally, the model was used successfully to simulate a number of different storage scenarios that are of general interest. Unfortunately, because of fundamental modeling issues the current version of the model is limited in terms of flexibility and usefulness, and more work to improve the model is still required. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9116856
- author
- Zandler Andersson, Gusten LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- KETM05 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Modeling, Simulation, Liquid Hydrogen, Storage tank, Modelica, Chemical engineering
- language
- English
- id
- 9116856
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-02 13:51:50
- date last changed
- 2023-06-02 13:51:50
@misc{9116856,
abstract = {{Liquid hydrogen is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels in the aviation industry, but storing it both before and during flights introduces many challenges pertaining to the cryogenic liquid conditions required. Having reliable models to predict the dynamical behavior inside the storage tank is therefore of great interest.
This thesis covers the development of a low-dimensional model for a liquid hydrogen storage tank capable of describing boil-off and self-pressurization dynamics by taking into account thermal stratification effects brought on by natural convection. The model uses experimentally derived correlations to estimate the flow characteristics and heat transfer of the liquid domain by dividing it into several horizontal control volumes. Additionally it tries to incorporate highly non-equilibrium descriptions of the evaporation/condensation phenomena at the interface and a non-conventional discretization approach to solve for the temperature profile close to said interface is suggested.
Validation showed that the model can produce results closely matching experimental self-pressurization data when calibrated parameters are employed, but not necessarily for all experimental setups. Furthermore, the model was successfully utilized to simulate several common storage scenarios and generate data for analysis. Recurring issues with model robustness encumbers the flexibility and usefulness of the model, and as such more work is required on its development.}},
author = {{Zandler Andersson, Gusten}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Storage}},
year = {{2023}},
}