Cryogenics最新文献

An experimental setup incorporating a tank with a non-insulated common bulkhead inside and a zero-boil-off system outside was designed and established to investigate the transient thermodynamic characteristics of bipropellant liquid oxygen and methane during liquefaction, filling, and zero-boil-off storage processes. The results demonstrate the advantage of the non-insulated common bulkhead tank in storing liquid oxygen and liquid methane. The non-insulated common bulkhead provided an additional heat transfer pathway, allowing the cold energy released by liquid oxygen to be used to improve the cooling rate of methane and stabilize its storage state during the liquefaction and filling processes. Furthermore, the influence of the operational modes of the zero-boil-off system on the storage states of the fluids was examined. The cooling power delivered by the zero-boil-off system was identified as the most critical factor affecting the storage state of the fluids in the common bulkhead tank. In the absence of cooling power, the temperature rising rates in the liquid oxygen and liquid methane compartments were 4.3 K/h and 4.4 K/h, respectively. Compared with the results during the helium circulator standby stage, the pressure difference between the two compartments increased by 62.73 % in the absence of cooling power. The findings indicate the necessity of maintaining adequate cooling power to achieve stable zero boil-off storage, providing guidelines for the design and operation of practical liquid oxygen-liquid methane common bulkhead storage tanks with zero boil-off requirements.

A diagnostic method for screw compressor faults using vibration signals was introduced and applied to a new type of helium oil-injected screw compressor in the 80L/h helium liquefier. The study revealed that the destruction of the oil film due to impurity particles could lead to rotor rubbing and poor meshing, compromising the reliability of these compressors. Based on frequency-domain analysis, the major vibration occurred at the meshing frequency of screw rotors and a series of its harmonics. The vibration of the characteristic frequency of bearing parts also indicated that the bearing had slight wear in the early stage. The vibration waveform’s time domain diagram exhibited clear clipping, and the axis trajectory shew disorder, which were common characteristic of rotor rubbing. When compressing helium with low molecular weight, the meshing clearance, tooth tip clearance, and end clearance of the rotor were significantly lower than those of traditional refrigerants or air media. Additionally, the thermal gap caused by thermoelastic deformation was smaller due to the large adiabatic index of helium. Therefore, rubbing faults between rotors and between rotors and casing were more likely to occur. The article recommended establishing a vibration signal monitoring system, optimizing the design of helium screw rotor profiles, and setting up reliability standards for screw compressor operation, such as limiting the vibration speed to ≤ 8 mm/s. Additionally, attention should be given to cleaning gas pipelines in cryogenic engineering and monitoring compressor vibration and noise signals during operation to prevent rotor damage due to particle impurities.

Maintaining a low-temperature environment is paramount in pursuing reliable operation for infrared detectors. To address the rising demand for long-wave infrared detectors functioning in low-temperature environments around 60 K, this study investigates the enhanced efficiency of a 60 K coaxial pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) through both simulation analysis and experimental methods. A PTC model was developed using Sage software to optimize parameters such as cold finger size. Analysis of the internal flow field highlighted that variations in cold head temperature, frequency, and input power significantly impact phase angle distribution within the regenerator. Experimental results yielded the same conclusion and confirmed how these critical factors affect the PTC’s performance. Through systematic optimization of simulations and experiments, a cooling performance of 12.7 W/60 K was achieved with an input power of 300 W. Furthermore, when the input power of the PTC was 200 W, a cooling capacity of 9.2 W/60 K was achieved, demonstrating a relative Carnot efficiency of 18.3 %.

The MMR（Micro Miniature Refrigerator）is a novel Joule-Thomson cryocooler manufactured by micro-machining technologies, its axial length is significantly shorter than traditional Joule-Thomson cryocoolers commonly employed in infrared detectors. MMRs can greatly reduce the size of infrared detectors upon successful implementation. However, contemporary MMR products encounter challenges such as relatively low cool-down rates, cooling power, and structural strength. To address these issues and enhance the cool-down performance of the MMR for effective application in infrared detectors, a calculation model describing flow and heat transfer besides working characteristics of the MMR is proposed and verified. MMR prototypes are fabricated and experimentally studied. Building upon theoretical analysis and experimental findings cooling performance enhancement methods including transitioning the MMR material from glass to metal and modifying the structure and channel patterns of the MMR are introduced, the cooling performance of the MMR is thus greatly improved. Furthermore, an integrated design incorporating an MMR into an infrared detector is proposed, the axial length of this infrared detector is reduced by 65.3 % compared to conventional infrared detectors. And the MMR is further enhanced to adapt the working conditions in infrared detectors, 60.9 MPa working pressure and 38 s cool-down time is achieved, the cool-down requirements of infrared detectors is satisfied. Notably, the proposed MMR and infrared detector design in this paper exhibit technical advantages over similar products reported in the literature.

Taconis oscillations are thermally induced spontaneous excitations of acoustic modes in tubes subjected to large temperature gradients. Cryogenic systems that experience these excitations suffer from increased heat leak and vibrations. This heat leak may also increase boil-off in long-term storage vessels for liquid hydrogen. In this study, U-shaped closed-end tubes with a cold mid-section are experimentally investigated to quantify the oscillation characteristics for hydrogen- and helium-filled systems at various mean pressures, including supercritical hydrogen states. Experimental measurements of the temperature distribution along the tube and acoustic pressure amplitudes and frequencies are taken in constant- and variable-diameter configurations near the onset of oscillations. Thirty different conditions are recorded with mean pressures ranging from 126 kPa to 1127 kPa for helium and 161 kPa to 1816 kPa for hydrogen. A low-amplitude thermoacoustic model is applied to predict the cold temperature and frequency corresponding to the onset of Taconis oscillations. The findings of this study indicate that Taconis oscillations in systems with hydrogen occur at smaller temperature differences than in more traditional helium systems by approximately 10 K. Hydrogen in the constant-diameter configuration excited when cryogenic temperatures reached 35–40 K, whereas helium excited when cryogenic temperatures reached 20–30 K. Special tubing networks, such as wider segments in the warm portion, can drastically elevate the excitation cold temperature resulting in onset temperatures between 50–60 K for both fluids. Taconis oscillations are also found to exist in conditions when liquid hydrogen starts forming in the cold zone of the system, as well as in supercritical states. The presented measurements are useful for designing cryogenic hydrogen storage systems to control these oscillations.

This work explores the effects of a compact, superconducting C-shaped patch printed on uniaxial anisotropic substrate, utilizing two uniaxial substrate materials: boron nitride and magnesium fluoride. This study employed the superconducting material BSCCO (2212 BSCCO crystal), with a critical temperature of 95 K. Using the hybrid cavity model, we identified and extracted two key parameters: the resonance frequency of conductive elements and the superconducting resonance frequency. We analyzed the impact of the operating temperature on the resonant frequency of a C-shaped superconductivity microstrip antenna, as well as the effect of the uniaxial substrate material and its thickness on the surface resistance and surface reactance. The results showed that temperature significantly affects the resonant frequency of the compact antenna. Our research highlighted the importance of selecting the correct operating temperature for a superconducting microstrip antenna to ensure optimal performance in compact microstrip antenna designs.

The rapid development of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology has increased demand for stable and reliable cooling sources, with the neon refrigerator emerging as a favorable solution for HTS applications, among which neon turboexpander is the core component. This paper proposes an optimal design method tailored for the neon turboexpander, which combines a one-dimensional mean-line design, three-dimensional CFD analysis, adaptive Kriging surrogate model, and the genetic algorithm. The meridional contour of the turboexpander impeller is geometrically parameterized, and the three most critical structural parameters are selected through Sobol sensitivity analysis, and then the response surface analysis is carried out to analyze the coupling relationship between the structural parameters. After optimization, the total-to-static efficiency and output power of the neon turboexpander increased by 3.98% and 6.12%, respectively. Notably, the flow separation phenomenon within the optimized impeller is significantly improved, resulting in reduced flow loss. Furthermore, the optimized impeller demonstrates robust performance in a wide range of variable operating conditions. Therefore, the optimization design method has been proven effective, and the optimal turboexpander impeller structure can be obtained quickly and accurately.

The work proposed in this paper investigates the design and simulation of low temperature refractive-index (RI) sensor using one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D-PhC) structure. The bilayer stack is created using dielectric and superconductor materials. The dielectric material is assumed to be air and the superconductor considered is YaBa₂Cu₃O₇. Compared to superconductor material, air’s RI is hardly affected by the temperature. The parameter perceived by the suggested sensor for precise temperature measurement in the region of 10 K to 90 K is thought to be the superconductor’s RI, which is a function of temperature. To the best of our knowledge, the structural characteristics of single superconductor material have been precisely adjusted to increase sensor efficiency to a level never before seen in published research. According to the findings, the temperature sensitivity of 1.524 nm/K and the maximum RI sensitivity of 1079.42 nm/RIU are found in the proposed structure. Applications for bio-sensing are a good fit for the suggested sensing device.

The evaporation characteristics of droplets is a fundamental issue for accurate depictions of moving liquefied natural gas (LNG) droplets and constantly changing ambient environment owing to intense heat, mass transfer, and momentum exchanges. In this study, a modified droplet evaporation model is developed to investigate the evaporation behavior of a single free-falling LNG droplet under various ambient conditions. The proposed model captures the droplet interface and calculates the mass transfer rate through the vapor concentration gradient using the volume of fluid method integrated with a smooth function. Evaporation experiments were conducted on a single free-falling LNG droplet to capture the evaporation process. The results indicate that it is acceptable to ignore the effect of the Stefan flow of a single free-falling LNG droplet. This study also examined the impact of different ambient conditions on evaporation characteristics. The results indicate that the evolution of the droplet diameter is mainly influenced by the ambient temperature because it affects the thermal properties of the surrounding gas and the distribution of the boundary layer. The temporal characteristics of the Nu and Sh numbers generally stabilize after a period of rapid decline. This study provides a theoretical basis for understanding the evaporation mechanisms of LNG droplets.

This work presents the development of new epoxy systems that combine high fracture toughness at cryogenic temperatures (

The required slow curing reaction was achieved by using a sterically hindered alkylamine (2-heptylamine) as chain extender, which increased the pot life more than twofold, resulting in resin formulations that combine a high cryogenic fracture toughness, a low viscosity and a long processing window at room temperature.