International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 8, Issue 7, July 2017, pp. 1900–1905, Article ID: IJMET_08_07_211

Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=7
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

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EFFECT OF MASS FLOW RATE ON

THERMOHYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE OF
HTS CABLES WITH MIXED CRYOGEN
Priyanka Anand
Graduate Student, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India.

Gaurav Vyas
Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India.

Raja Sekhar Dondapati

Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India.

Rahul Agarwal
UG Student, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India.

ABSTRACT
The process of power transmission in conventional power cables exhibits huge
transmission losses. For better future power transmission system, a novel technique is
being developed using High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cables. Cooling of
these cables below the critical temperature of superconductor is necessary in order to
maintain superconductivity. HgBa2Ca2Cu2O2 superconductor with highest critical
temperature of 134K has been attained which necessitate the requirement of efficient
coolant to overcome losses.
In the present work, mixture of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen is proposed to be
the suitable coolant. For this purpose, investigation on thermophysical properties is
carried out using SUPERTRAPP®. Also thermohydraulic performance (pressure drop
and heat transfer) is being evaluated by adopting Computational Fluid Dynamics
(CFD) analysis technique at given mass flow rates. The obtained results show
increase in pressure drop, heat transfer and Nusselt number with increase in mass
flow rate at constant temperature.
Key words: HTS cables, Liquid nitrogen (LN2) and Liquid Oxygen (LOX), Pressure
drop and Heat transfer, Nusselt number.

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 Effect of Mass Flow Rate on Thermohydraulic Performance of HTS Cables with Mixed Cryogen

Cite this Article: Priyanka Anand, Gaurav Vyas, Raja Sekhar Dondapati and Rahul
Agarwal Effect of Mass Flow Rate on Thermohydraulic Performance of HTS Cables
with Mixed Cryogen International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and
Technology, 8(7), 2017, pp. 1900–1905.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=7

1. INTRODUCTION
High Temperature Superconducting cables are proved to be efficient alternative to the
conventional power transmission system. Comparatively less power losses in HTS cables help
them in power grid application [1]-[3]. Although high heat dissipation needs various cooling
techniques [4]-[6].However, these cooling techniques are not found to be excessively
beneficial, so requirement for suitable coolant for better power transmission arise. Dondapati
R.S [7] suggested Super Critical Nitrogen (SCN) to be one such coolant.
The utility of mixed cryogenic fluid can be another alternative cooling solution for HTS
cables. Jung-Bin Song [8] has also used mixed cryogen for HTS power application. However,
paper presents mixture of solid-liquid nitrogen. In this research work mixture of Liquid
Nitrogen (LN2) and Liquid Oxygen (LOX) is considered to be feasible coolant at operating
temperature of 70K and pressure range of 0.9MPa-1.3MPa. The thermophysical properties are
evaluated using NIST database standard 4 (SUPERTRAPP®) versions 3.2.1 as investigated
by Afrianto [9] for numerical study on LNG flow and heat transfer characteristic in heat
exchanger. Estimation of thermohydraulic properties of cryogens are utilized in computational
fluid dynamic analysis for performing thermohydraulic performance of High Temperature
Superconductivity Cables [10-14] Properties obtained are then simulated in CFD [10]-[11] at
varying mass flow rates. The geometry of HTS cable for the analysis is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 Geometry of HTS cable modeled using ABAQUS [7]

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In the present research work varying composition of mixed cryogen ranging from 10-90% to
90-10% is taken with increasing liquid nitrogen and decreasing liquid oxygen percentage in
the composition. The mixture composition is considered to be 10gms. Density, viscosity,
thermal conductivity and specific heat are evaluated at operating temperature of 70K and
pressure range of 0.9MPa to 1.3MPa at varying composition of mixed cryogen.
The computational fluid geometry of corrugated steel for mixed LN2 and LOX is
developed in ANSYS (FLUENT)-15.0.0 version in the following dimensions.

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 Priyanka Anand, Gaurav Vyas, Raja Sekhar Dondapati and Rahul

Table 1 Dimensions for corrugated steel pipe

Pipe diameter Corrugation Pitch Length of pipe Mass flow rate

(mm) (mm) (mm) (g/s)

40 60 1000 20-60

Figure 2 Schematic of corrugated steel pipe for computational analysis

Geometry developed is meshed and solved in FLUENT with inlet condition of constant
temperature of 70K and operating pressure from 0.9MPa to 1.3MPa. The wall temperature is
taken to be 290K and no changes on outlet of the pipe are made. Conservation of mass,
conservation of momentum and conservation of energy equations are simultaneously solved at
varying mass flow rates in FLUENT from 20g/s to 60g/s. Pressure drop ,heat transfer and
Nusselt number is calculated from the obtained results for HTS cables for mixed cryogen as
conducted by Dondapati R.S [12] for long length internally cooled HTS cables. Governing
equations considered [12] for calculation of pressure drop and Nusselt Number are

∆
2
Where Δp = Pressure Drop (Pa), f = Friction Factor, L =Length of the Corrugated pipe
(m), ρ= Density of mixed cryogen (kg/m3), D = Diameter of pipe (m).
Also the Nusselt number is dimensionless number as function of temperature in fluid and
is given as

Where h=Heat Transfer coefficient (W/m2-K), k=thermal conductivity (W/m-K).

The unknown value of heat transfer coefficient is calculated

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 Effect of Mass Flow Rate on Thermohydraulic Performance of HTS Cables with Mixed Cryogen

Where Q= heat transfer (W), A= area of pipe (m2), ∆ = Tinlet – Tout let (K)
The values of friction factor and heat transfer can be obtained from FLUENT post-
processing module.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this paper, the thermohydraulic performance of mixed LN2 and LOX at specified
temperature and pressure range is evaluated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The
analysis of pressure drop, heat transfer and Nusselt number is estimated at various mass flow
rates. The analysis is done by considering various the mass flow rates. The significant change
is recorded with varying mass flow rate. Also increase in amount of liquid nitrogen in mixed
cryogen shows maximum pressure drop, heat transfer and Nusselt number. Whereas mixed
cryogen with minimum volume of liquid oxygen records the least rise in pressure drop, heat
transfer and Nusselt number.

3.1. Pressure Drop Analysis

Figure 3 Pressure Drop as function of Mass flow Rate for various composition of mixed cryogen at
70K and a) 0.9MPa b) 1.0MPa c) 1.1MPa d) 1.2MPa e) 1.3 MPa
Figure 3 represents the pressure drop as function of mass flow rate ranging from 0.02kg/s-
0.06kg/s with mixture combination range of 10-90% to 90-10% by volume of LN2-LO2 at
constant temperature of 70K . It is observed that with increase in mass flow rate, pressure
drop increases. Likewise, with increase of LN2 in mixture significant increase in pressure
drop is marked.

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 Priyanka Anand, Gaurav Vyas, Raja Sekhar Dondapati and Rahul

3.2. Heat Transfer Analysis

Figure 4 Heat transfer as function of Mass Flow Rate for various composition of mixed cryogen at
70K and a) 0.9MPa b) 1.0MPa c) 1.1MPa d) 1.2MPa e) 1.3 MPa
Figure 4 represents the heat transfer as function of mass flow rate ranging from 0.02kg/s-
0.06kg/s with mixture combination range of 10-90% to 90-10% by volume of LN2-LO2 at
constant temperature of 70K . It is observed that with increase in mass flow rate, heat transfer
increases. Likewise, with increase of LN2 in mixture significant increase in heat transfer is
marked.

3.3. Nusselt Number Analysis

Figure 5 Nusselt number as function of Mass Flow Rate for various composition of mixed cryogen at
70K and a) 0.9MPa b) 1.0MPa c) 1.1MPa d) 1.2MPa e) 1.3 MPa

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 Effect of Mass Flow Rate on Thermohydraulic Performance of HTS Cables with Mixed Cryogen

Figure5 represents the Nusselt number as function of mass flow rate ranging from
0.02kg/s-0.06kg/s with mixture combination range of 10-90% to 90-10% by volume of LN2-
LO2 at constant temperature of 70K . The result indicates that with increase in mass flow rate,
Nusselt number increases. Likewise, with increase of LN2 in mixture significant increase in
Nusselt number is marked.

4. CONCLUSION
Pressure drop and heat transfer is investigated for the HTS cables. With the use of mixed
cryogen, a significant increase in heat transfer is marked for various mass flow rates.
Likewise, pressure drop and Nusselt number also increase as mass of mixed cryogen is
increased. Also the cryogen with maximum volume percentage of liquid nitrogen exhibits
maximum pressure drop, heat transfer and Nusselt number.

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