Research on building cryo-compressed test condition on large CcH2 vessel for heavy-duty fuel cell trucks

Abstract

To test the performance of cryo-compressed hydrogen vessels for heavy-duty fuel cell trucks, a novel inconstant filling method was proposed by applying liquid nitrogen and compressed helium to create the target cryo-compressed environment. The computational fluid dynamics method was used to simulate the loading process of generating suitable conditions in a large cryo-compressed vessel. The element-based finite volume method and the k – ω based shear stress transport model were applied to simulate the thermal flow of filled gas. Temperature distribution and loading performance were carefully analyzed under different filling cases. In a bid to compare the loading performance, five key factors (gas consumption, temperature rise of aluminum layer and carbon fiber, average filling rate, and time consumption) were put in a radar map for discussing the optimized strategy of each application. The simulation results revealed that the cryo-compressed test condition can be well established by using liquid nitrogen precooling and gas helium pressurization. Nevertheless, the mass flow should be maintained at a low rate before the construction of high-pressure. These findings help design and operate the cryo-compressed test by enhancing its safety and improving efficiency.