Experimental investigations on transient cryogenic chilldown of a short horizontal copper transfer line

Abstract

The present study investigates chilldown characteristics of a horizontal copper transfer line with 7.94 mm outer diameter, 0.81 mm wall thickness and 500 mm length. Data presented in this paper is for the experiments conducted with different mass fluxes (66 kg (m2.s)−1 to 102 kg (m2.s)−1) in a horizontal copper transfer line under terrestrial gravity conditions. Temperature measurements were recorded at six equidistant points to a distance of 330 mm from an inlet. Inverse problem solving method is utilized to calculate corresponding heat flux and heat transfer coefficients. Considering the thermal properties of the quenched wall, an empirical relation was developed. It is found that while employing copper transfer lines instead of stainless steel, thermal mass of the section is reduced by a factor of 100, thereby encountering a reduction of 50% in critical heat flux.