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Results for “Hydrogen Pre-cooling”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

The Planck Sorption Cooler: Using Metal Hydrides to Produce 20 K

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has built and delivered two continuous closed cycle hydrogen Joule-Thomson (JT) cryocoolers for the ESA Planck mission, which will measure the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background. The metal hydride compressor consists of six sorbent beds containing LaNi4.78Sn0.22 alloy and a low pressure storage bed of the same material. Each sorbent bed contains a separate gas-gap heat switch that couples or isolates the bed with radiators during the compressor operating cycle. ZrNiHx hydride is used in this heat switch. The Planck compressor produces hydrogen gas at a pressure of 48 Bar by heating the hydride to approx.450 K. This gas passes through a cryogenic cold end consisting of a tube-in-tube heat exchanger, three pre-cooling stages to bring the gas to nominally 52 K, a JT value to expand the gas into the two-phase regime at approx.20 K, and two liquid - vapor heat exchangers that must remove 190 and 646 mW of heat respectively.

hydrogen storage materials↗
NASA NTRS2017

Zero Boil-Off Methods for Large Scale Liquid Hydrogen Tanks Using Integrated Refrigeration and Storage

NASA has completed a series of tests at the Kennedy Space Center to demonstrate the capability of using integrated refrigeration and storage (IRAS) to remove energy from a liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank and control the state of the propellant. A primary test objective was the keeping and storing of the liquid in a zero boil-off state, so that the total heat leak entering the tank is removed by a cryogenic refrigerator with an internal heat exchanger. The LH2 is therefore stored and kept with zero losses for an indefinite period of time. The LH2 tank is a horizontal cylindrical geometry with a vacuum-jacketed, multi-layer insulation system and a capacity of 125,000 liters. The closed-loop helium refrigeration system was a Linde LR1620 capable of 390W cooling at 20K (without any liquid nitrogen pre-cooling). Three different control methods were used to obtain zero boil-off: temperature control of the helium refrigerant, refrigerator control using the tank pressure sensor, and duty cycling (on/off) of the refrigerator as needed. Summarized are the IRAS design approach, zero boil-off control methods, and results of the series of zero boil-off tests.

ZBO↗
NASA NTRS1998

Challenging Pneumatic Requirements for Acoustic Testing of the Cryogenic Second Stage for the New Delta 3 Rocket

The paper describes the unique pneumatic test requirements for the acoustic and shock separation testing of the Second Stage for the new Delta III Rocket at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The testing was conducted in the 45,000 cu ft (25-feet wide by 30-feet deep by 50-foot high) Acoustic Facility. The acoustic testing required that the liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks be filled with enough liquid nitrogen (LN2) to simulate launch fuel masses during testing. The challenge for this test dealt with designing, procuring, and fabricating the pneumatic supply systems for quick assembly while maintaining the purity requirements and minimizing costs. The pneumatic systems were designed to fill and drain the both LOX and LH2 tanks as well as to operate the fill/drain and vent valves for each of the tanks. The test criteria for the pneumatic sub-systems consisted of function, cleanliness, availability, and cost. The first criteria, function, required the tanks to be filled and drained in an efficient manner while preventing them from seeing pressures greater than 9 psig which would add a pressure cycle to the tank. An LN2 tanker, borrowed from another NASA facility, served as the pre-cool and drain tanker. Pre-cooling the tanks allowed for more efficient and cost effective transfer from the LN2 delivery tankers. Helium gas, supplied from a high purity tube trailer, was used to pressurize the vapor space above the LN2 pushing it into the drain tanker. The tube trailer also supplied high pressure helium to the vehicle for valve control and component purges. Cleanliness was maintained by proper component selection, end-use particle filtration, and any on-site cleaning determined necessary by testing. In order to meet the availability/cost juggling act, products designed for LOX delivery systems were procured to ensure system compatibility while off the shelf valves and tubing designed for the semiconductor industry were procured for the gas systems.

Webb, Andrew T.↗