Thermal prediction of transient two-phase flow in cryogenic transportation based on drift-flux model

Abstract

Accurate prediction as well as effective thermal management of transient cryogenic transportation is of great importance to the safe and high-efficiency utilization of cryogenic fluids. To predict the unstable cryogenic transportation process, a one-dimensional model coupling two-phase flow with transient heat conduction of solid tube is developed in this study. The transient two-phase flow is described by a drift-flux model, and a finite volume method (FVM) with staggered grid mesh is adopted for numerical calculation. Verified by a lot of experimental data, the proposed model shows its applicability in a wide range of conditions. Then, thermal performance and pressure surge phenomenon are investigated in detail. The intermittent chill-down strategy is recommended to take full use of the sensible energy of fluid from the perspective of energy saving. Besides, the pressure surge is verified as a special physical phenomenon in cryogenic fluids transportation process, which brings higher challenges to the storage, handling and transport of cryogenic fuels.