• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.64-69
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• 2014

Measuring an exact amount of remaining cryogenic liquid propellant under microgravity condition is one of the important issues of rocket vehicle. A Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) gauging method is attractive due to its minimal additional hardware and simple gauging process. In this paper, PVT gauging method using liquid nitrogen is investigated under microgravity condition with parabolic flight. A 9.2 litre metal cryogenic liquid storage tank containing approximately 30% of liquid nitrogen is pressurized by ambient temperature helium gas. During microgravity condition, the inside of the liquid tank becomes near-isothermal condition within 1 K difference indicated by 6 silicon diode sensors vertically distributed in the middle of the liquid tank. Helium injection with higher mass flow rate after 10 seconds of the waiting time results in successful measurements of helium partial pressure in the tank. Average liquid volume measurement error is within 11% of the whole liquid tank volume and standard deviation of errors is 11.9. As a result, the applicability of PVT gauging method to liquid propellant stored in space is proven with good measurement accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.37-48
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• 1998

A cryogenic liquid stored in the closed cryogenic tank has been studied at various liquid levels. The change of pressure, temperature, and liquid-vapor ratio in the tank depended on the liquid levels. The various phenomena were shown at different liquid levels as follows: (1) liquid level was increased with condensation of vapor: (2) liquid was vaporized in spite of liquid level going up for a certain initial period and then condensation of vapor occurred at higher pressure; (3) liquid was vaporized without liquid level change; (4) liquid was vaporized with liquid level decreasing. If the tank is full with cryogenic liquid, it is extremely dangerous because of soaring the pressure. Therefore the tank must be filled with $90\%$ liquid according to the safety rules. If the tank was filled with $0\%$ ullage, the pressure increment as high as 80bar during first 5 days. With $90\%$ liquid level, however, the pressure was increased as low as 1.5bar in the same period. No matter what the liquid level is, it is very dangerous if the tank is locked-up with filled cryogenic liquid for a long time.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.936-946
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• 2005

The liquid nitrogen as an environmentally safe coolant has been widely recognized in cryo­genic machining, its function as a lubricant is plausible due to its chemical inertness, physical volatility and low viscosity. Since a reduced friction is a direct witness of the lubrication effect from a tribological viewpoint, this paper presents an evaluation of the apparent friction coefficient on the tool-chip interface in cryogenic cutting operations to prove and characterize the lubricity of LN2 in cryogenic machining. The cryogenic cutting technology used in this study is based on a cooling approach and liquid nitrogen delivery system which are intended to apply liquid nitrogen in well-controlled fine jets to selectively localized cutting zones and to penetrate liquid nitrogen to the tool-chip interface. It has been found that the apparent friction coefficient can be significantly reduced in cryogenic machining, depending on the approach of liquid nitrogen delivery.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2009

The cargo containment system (CCS) for ships carrying cryogenic fluid consists of at least two levels of barriers and insulation layers. It is because, even though there is a small amount of leak through the primary barrier, the liquid tight secondary barrier blocks further leakage of the cryogenic fluid. However, once the secondary barrier is damaged, it is highly possible that the leaked cryogenic fluid flows through the flat joint made of glass wool and reaches the inner hull of the ship. The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the influence of the damage extent in the secondary barrier on the amount of leaked cryogenic fluid reaching the inner hull and the temperature distribution there. Simulation results using a computational fluid dynamics tool were compared with the experimental data for the leaked cryogenic fluid flow and evaporation in the secondary insulation layer. The experimental and computational results suggest that, unless there is a massive leak, the cryogenic fluid mostly evaporates in the insulation layer and does not reach the inner hull in the state of liquid.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2021

Cryogenic vessels are special equipment that requires periodic evaluation of their thermal insulation performance. At the current standard, the test is considered as the loss product or heat leakage of cryogenic vessel, which takes over 72 h to evaluate; consequently, a large amount of working medium is discharged to the environment in the process. However, hydrogen is flammable and explosive, and the discharged gas may be dangerous. If liquid hydrogen is replaced with liquid nitrogen before testing, the operation then becomes complicated, and the loss product or heat leakage cannot respond to the thermal insulation performance of cryogenic vessels for liquid hydrogen. Therefore, a novel method is proposed to evaluate the heat leakage of cryogenic vessels for liquid hydrogen in self-pressurization. In contrast to the current testing methods, the method proposed in this study does not require discharge or exchange of working medium in all test processes. The proposed method is based on one-dimensional heat transfer analysis of cryogenic vessels, which is verified by experiment. When this method is used to predict the heat leakage, the comparison with the experimental data of the standard method shows that the maximum error of heat leakage is less than 5.0%.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.71-77
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• 2014

For a long-term space mission, filling process of cryogenic liquid propellant is operated on a space vehicle in space. A vent process during transfer and filling of cryogenic propellant is needed to maintain the fuel tank pressure at a safe level due to its volatile characteristic. It is possible that both liquid and vapor phases of the cryogenic propellant are released simultaneously to outer space when the vent process occurs under low gravity environment. As a result, the existing filling process with venting not only accompanies wasting liquid propellant, but also consumes extra fuel to compensate for the unexpected momentum originated from the vent process. No-Vent Fill (NVF) method, a filling procedure without a venting process of cryogenic liquid propellant, is an attractive technology to perform a long-term space mission. In this paper, the preliminary experimental results of the NVF process are described. The experimental set-up consists of a 9-liter cryogenic liquid receiver tank and a supply tank. Liquid nitrogen ($LN_2$) is used to simulate the behavior of cryogenic propellant. The whole situation in the receiver tank during NVF is monitored. The major experimental parameter in the experiment is the mass flow rate of the liquid nitrogen. The experimental results demonstrate that as the mass flow rate is increased, NVF process is conducted successfully. The quality and the inlet temperature of the injected $LN_2$ are affected by the mass flow rate. These parameters determine success of NVF.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.348-353
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• 2005

A cryogenic test facility has been developed to perform inducer and pump tests using liquid nitrogen. Performance tests of a turbopump in the maximum 50ton-thrust class can be performed with cryogenic fluid in the facility which operates at a temperature around $-196^{\circ}C$ with the rotational speed up to 30,000rpm. To verify the reliability of the cryogenic pump test facility, hydraulic performance tests of an inducer were accomplished, and their results were compared with the result from a water test The results confirm the reliability of the cryogenic test facility, and it is expected to contribute for on-going development of a turbopump for liquid rocket engines.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.9 no.4 s.37
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• pp.20-26
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• 2006

A cryogenic test facility has been developed to perform inducer and pump tests using liquid nitrogen. Performance tests of a turbopump in the maximum 50ton-thrust class can be performed with cryogenic fluid in the facility which operates at a temperature around -196oC with the rotational speed up to 30,000rpm To verify the reliability of the cryogenic pump test facility, hydraulic performance tests of an inducer were accomplished, and their results were compared with the result from a water test. The results confirm the reliability of the cryogenic test facility, and it is expected to contribute for on-going development of a turbopump for liquid rocket engines.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.49-55
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• 2023

This paper presents the design of a re-liquefaction system as a BOG (boil-off gas) handling process in liquid hydrogen transport vessels. The total capacity of the re-liquefaction system was assumed to be 3 ton/day, with a BOR (boil-off rate) of 0.2 %/day inside the cargo. The re-liquefaction cycle was devised using the He-Brayton Cycle, incorporating considerations of BOG capacity and operational stability. The primary components of the system, such as compressors, expanders, and heat exchangers, were selected to meet domestically available specifications. Case studies were conducted based on the specifications of the components to determine the optimal design parameters for the re-liquefaction system. This encompassed variables such as helium mass flow rate, the number of compressors, compressor inlet pressure and compression ratio, as well as the quantity and composition of expanders. Additionally, an analysis of exergy destruction and exergy efficiency was carried out for the components within the system. Remarkably, while previous design studies of BOG re-liquefaction systems for liquid hydrogen vessels were confined to theoretical and analytical realms, this research distinguishes itself by accounting for practical implementation through equipment and system design.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.15-23
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• 2002

In most cryogenic liquid rocket engines, liquid oxygen manifold and injector are not thermally insulated from room temperature environment fur reducing system complexity and the weight. This feature of cryogenic liquid rocket engine results in the situation that cryogenic liquid oxygen flow is easy to be vaporized especially in the vicinity of the manifold and the injector wall. The research in this paper is focused on two-phase flow phenomena of liquid oxygen in rocket engine. Vapor fraction was estimated by comparing the measured two-phase flow pressure drop in engine manifold and the injector with ideal single phase pressure drop. Heat flux into cryogenic flow is estimated by measuring the wall temperature on the engine manifold to examine boiling characteristics. Suitable correlations for cryogenic two-phase flow were also reviewed to see their applicability. In addition, the effect of vapor generation in liquid rocket engine manifold and injector on engine performance and stability was considered.