• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.299-308
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• 2022

This study was conducted to predict the tendency for heat exchange and boil-off gas (BOG) in a liquefied hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation. First, athe fluid domain excited by sloshing was modeled using a multiphase-thermal flow domain in which liquid hydrogen and hydrogen gas are in the saturated state. Both the the volume of fluid (VOF) and Eulerian-based multi-phase flow methods were applied to validate the accuracy of the pressure prediction. Second, it was indirectly shown that the fluid velocity prediction could be accurate by comparing the free surface and impact pressure from the computational fluid dynamics with those from the experimental results. Thereafter, the heat ingress from the external convective heat flux was reflected on the outer surfaces of the hydrogen tank. Eulerian-based multiphase-heat flow analysis was performed for a two-dimensional Type-C cylindrical hydrogen tank under rotational sloshing motion, and an inflation technique was applied to transform the fluid domain into a computational grid model. The heat exchange and heat flux in the hydrogen liquid-gas mixture were calculated throughout the analysis,, whereas the mass transfer and vaporization models were excluded to account for the pure heat exchange between the liquid and gas in the saturated state. In addition, forced convective heat transfer by sloshing on the inner wall of the tank was not reflected so that the heat exchange in the multiphase flow of liquid and gas could only be considered. Finally, the effect of sloshing on the amount of heat exchange between liquid and gas hydrogen was discussed. Considering the heat ingress into liquid hydrogen according to the presence/absence of a sloshing excitation, the amount of heat flux and BOG were discussed for each filling ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.104-104
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• 2015

Due to the demand of the cold neutron flux in the neutron science and beam utilization technology, the cold neutron source (CNS) has been constructed and operating in the nuclear research reactor all over the world. The majority of the heat load removal scheme in the CNS is two-phase thermosiphon using the liquid hydrogen as a moderator. The CNS moderates thermal neutrons through a cryogenic moderator, liquid hydrogen, into cold neutrons with the generation of the nuclear heat load. The liquid hydrogen in a moderator cell is evaporated for the removal of the generated heat load from the neutron moderation and flows upward into a heat exchanger, where the hydrogen gas is liquefied by the cryogenic helium gas supplied from a helium refrigeration system. The liquefied hydrogen flows down to the moderator cell. To keep the required liquid hydrogen stable in the moderator cell, the CNS consists of an in-pool assembly (IPA) connected with the hydrogen system to handle the required hydrogen gas, the vacuum system to create the thermal insulation, and the helium refrigeration system to provide the cooling capacity. If one of systems is running out of order, the operating research reactor shall be tripped because the integrity of the CNS-IPA is not secured under the full power operation of the reactor. To prevent unscheduled reactor shutdown during a long time because the research reactor has been operating with the multi-purposes, the introduction of the standby cooling system (STS) can be a solution. In this presentation, the design considerations are considered how to design the STS satisfied with the following objectives: (a) to keep the moderator cell less than 350 K during the full power operation of the reactor under loss of the vacuum, loss of the cooling power, loss of common electrical power, or loss of instrument air cases; (b) to circulate smoothly helium gas in the STS circulation loop; (c) to re-start-up the reactor within 1 hour after its trip to avoid the Xenon build-up because more than certain concentration of Xenon makes that the reactor cannot start-up again; (d) to minimize the possibility of the hydrogen-oxygen reaction in the hydrogen boundary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.361-369
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• 2022

Countries worldwide are shifting to a hydrogen economy to respond to stringent environmental regulations, and the transport of hydrogen between countries is expected to increase in the mid- to long-term. Hydrogen is traded between countries in different forms, such as ammonia, liquid hydrogen, and LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier), on account of the renewable energy resources in exporting countries, the type of hydrogen use in importing countries, and the technological maturity; however, it is not traded only in a singular form. As marine transportation of ammonia and LOHC is a relatively mature technology compared to that of liquid hydrogen, in this article, we analyzed the technical feasibility of liquid hydrogen carriers while identifying detailed technologies required for their future development and securing possible designs through various technical alternatives.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.893-899
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• 2024

In a secondary cooling system of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), rapid detection of hydrogen due to sodium-water reaction (SWR) caused by water leakage from a heat exchanger tube of a steam generator (SG) is important in terms of safety and property protection of the SFR. For hydrogen detection, the hydrogen detectors using atomic transmission phenomenon of hydrogen within Ni-membrane were used in Japanese proto-type SFR "Monju". However, during the plant operation, detection signals of water leakage were observed even in the situation without SWR concerning temperature up and down in the cooling system. For this reason, the study of a new hydrogen detector has been carried out to improve stability, accuracy and reliability. In this research, the authors focus on the difference in composition of hydrogen and the difference between the background hydrogen under normal plant operation and the one generated by SWR and theoretically estimate the hydrogen behavior in liquid sodium by using ultra-accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics (UA-QCMD). Based on the estimation, dissolved H or NaH, rather than molecular hydrogen (H₂), is the predominant form of the background hydrogen in liquid sodium in terms of energetical stability. On the other hand, it was found that hydrogen molecules produced by the sodium-water reaction can exist stably as a form of a fine bubble concerning some confinement mechanism such as a NaH layer on their surface. At the same time, we observed experimentally that the fine H₂ bubbles exist stably in the liquid sodium, longer than previously expected. This paper describes the comparison between the theoretical estimation and experimental results based on hydrogen form in sodium in the development of the new hydrogen detector in Japan.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.641-649
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• 2023

This study analyzes the cool-down process of liquid hydrogen storage tanks, which have advantages in terms of large-capacity transfer, storage, and utilization as hydrogen demand increases. A hydrogen liquefaction plant is selected for analysis and an efficient tank cooling method is sought by comparing the time required for the cool-down process with the gas consumption in connection with the gassing-up process required for the operation of the liquid hydrogen storage tank. The results of this study can be referred to in the operation process after the initial start-up and maintenance of the hydrogen liquefaction plant.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.6
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• pp.124-135
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• 1998

A thermodynamic cycle analysis is performed for refrigerator-precooled Linde-Hampson hydrogen liquefiers, including catalysts for the ortho-to-para conversion. Three different configurations of the liquefying system, depending upon the method of the o-p conversion, are selected for the analysis. After some simplifying and justifiable assumptions are made, a general analysis program to predict the liquid yield and the figure of merit (FOM) is developed with incorporating the commercial computer code for the thermodynamic properties of hydrogen. The discussion is focused on the effect of the two primary design parameters - the precooling temperature and the high pressure of the cycle. When the precooling temperature is in a range between 45 and 60 K, the optimal high pressure for the maximal liquid yield is found to be about 100 to 140 bar, regardless of the ortho-to-para conversion. However, the FOM can be maximized at slightly lower high pressures, 75 to 130 bar. It is concluded that the good performance of the precooling refrigerator is significant in the liquefiers, because at low precooling temperatures high values of the liquid yield and the FOM can be achieved without compression of gas to a very high pressure.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.534-540
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• 2022

Liquid hydrogen has the best storage capacity per unit mass and is economical among storage methods for using hydrogen as fuel. As the demand for hydrogen increases, the need to develop a storage and supply system of liquid hydrogen is emphasizing. In order to liquefy hydrogen, it is necessary to pre-cool it to a maximum inversion temperature of -253℃. The Gifford-McMahon (GM) refrigerator is the most reliable and commercialized refrigerator among small-capacity cryogenic refrigerators, which can extract high-efficiency hydrogen through liquefied hydrogen production and boil of gas re-liquefaction. Therefore, in this study, the optimal conditions for liquefying gas hydrogen were sought using the GM cryocooler. The process was simulated by PRO/II under various cooling capacities of the GM refrigerator. In addition, the flow rate of hydrogen was calculated by comparing with specific refrigerator capacity depending on the pressure and flow rate of a refrigerant medium, helium. Simulations were performed to investigate the optimal values of the liquefaction flow rate and compression pressure, which aim for the peak refrigeration effect. Based on this, a liquefaction system can be selected in consideration of the cycle configuration and the performance of the refrigerator.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.526-534
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• 2023

To evaluate the risk of leakage when using liquid hydrogen, a leakage test was conducted using liquid nitrogen in an outdoor environment rather than a laboratory environment. To assume a real-scale continuous leak, liquid nitrogen was allowed to leak for 5 minutes through a pipe with a diameter of 25.4 mm at a design spill rate of 60 L/min. The measurement system consisted of devices for climate conditions, LN2 spread and vapor clouds. The main experimental results are the liquid pool radius and the concentration of vapor cloud, and the radius of the liquid pool was compared with the numerical analysis results.

• 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.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2018

Under the era of energy crisis, hydrogen energy is considered as one of the most potential alternative energies. Liquid hydrogen has much higher energy density per unit volume than gas hydrogen and is counted as the excellent energy storage method. In this study, Navier-Stokes equations based on 2-phase model were solved by using a computational fluid dynamics program and the liquefaction process of gaseous hydrogen passing through a cryogenic cooling tube was analyzed. The copper with high thermal conductivity was assumed as the material for cryogenic cooling tube. For different inlet velocities of 5 m/s, 10 m/s and 20 m/s for hydrogen gas, the distributions of fluid temperature, axial and radial velocities, and volume fractions of gas and liquid hydrogens were compared. These research results are expected to be used as basic data for the future design and fabrication of cryogenic cooling tube to transform the hydrogen gas into liquid hydrogen.