THERMAL BEHAVIOUR AND FLOW INSTABILITIES DURING

TRANSIENT CHILLDOWN OF CRYOGENICS SYSTEM

GINEESH T.G (1106)

M Tech in Industrial refrigeration and
cryogenics
Department of mechanical engineering
TKM College of Engineering.
1
 Contents
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Chilldown and governing principle
• Flow transition, heat transfer mechanism, Flow instability
• Chilldown of rocket engine
• Recirculation method of chilldown
• Experimental setup, procedure, and interpretation.
• Conclusion
• Reference
2
 What are cryogenic fluids ?

Table 1. : Cryogenic fluids and boiling temperature (Barron, 1985)

Cryogenic Boiling point Cryogenic Boiling point
fluid (K) fluid (K)

Oxygen 90.2 Helium 4.2

Hydrogen 20.3 Argon 87.3
Nitrogen 77.4 Neon 27.1

3
 Uses of cryogenic fluids

• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

• Infrared cameras.
• Cryogenic freezing of food.
• Preservation of medical samples
• Cryogenic cooling of superconductors
• Low temperature chemical reactions.
• As cryogenic fuels for rockets
 Uses of cryogenic fluids

• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

• Infrared cameras.
• Cryogenic freezing of food.
• Preservation of medical samples
• Cryogenic cooling of superconductors
• Low temperature chemical reactions.
• As cryogenic fuels for rockets
 Uses of cryogenic fluids

• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

• Infrared cameras.
• Cryogenic freezing of food.
• Preservation of medical samples
• Cryogenic cooling of superconductors
• Low temperature chemical reactions.
• As cryogenic fuels for rockets
 Cryogenic chilldown process

Cryogenic chilldown of horizontal tube (YouTube, 2019)

7
 Importance of study on cryogenic chilldown
• Indispensable process
• Pressure surge and oscillations
• Flow transition

• Chilldown time and Cryogenic fluid consumption

• Effect of various parameters on chilldown
i. Mass flux,
ii. Fluid properties, Tube properties,
iii. Amount of gravity, Direction of low with respect to gravity
iv. Surface finish of the tube
8
 Importance of study on cryogenic chilldown
• Indispensable process
• Pressure surge and oscillations
• Flow transition

• chilldown time and Cryogenic fluid consumption

• Effect of various parameters on chilldown
i. Mass flux,
ii. Fluid properties, Tube properties,
iii. Amount of gravity, Direction of flow with respect to gravity
iv. Surface finish of the tube
9
 Researches on cryogenic chilldown
Experimental researches Analytical researches

Terrestrial Microgravity Flow modelling

chilldown chilldown Homogeneous fluid
Two fluid model
Flow visualization studies

Instabilities studies

chilldown optimization
studies
10
 Literature review

1. Terrestrial cryogenic boiling and two-phase flow experiments

Year Author Reference list

1952 Kutateladze
“Heat Transfer in Condensation and Boiling,” State Sci.
and Tech. Pub. Of Lit. on Machinery, Moscow (Atomic
Energy Commission Translation 3770, Tech. Info -
Service, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.)

1962 Breen and “Effect of Diameter of Horizontal Tubes on Film Boiling

Westwater Heat Transfer,” Chemical Engineering Progress, 58, 67-
72.
11
1965 Brentari et al. “Boiling Heat Transfer for Oxygen, Nitrogen,
Hydrogen, and Helium”, NBS Technical Note No. 317,
National Bureau of Standards.

1965 Seader et al. “Boiling heat transfer for cryogenics”, NASA Space
Contractor Report CR-243.

1989 Klimenko et al. “Channel Orientation and Geometry Influence on

Heat Transfer with Two-Phase Forced Flow of
Nitrogen,” Cryogenics, 29, 31-36.

2005 Jackson, J. et al. “Transient heat transfer during cryogenic chilldown”,

Proceedings of the ASME Summer Heat Transfer
Conference, 2, pp. 253–260.
2008 Nayak and Vijayan. “Flow instabilities in boiling two-phase natural
circulation systems: A review”, Science and
Technology of Nuclear Installations, 2008.
12
2. Terrestrial chilldown experiments

Year Author Reference list

1960 Burke et al. “Pressure Cooldown of Cryogenic Transfer Lines,”

Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, 4, 378-394..

1962 Bronson et al. “Problems in Cool-Down of Cryogenic Systems,”

Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, 7, 198-205.
1964 Chi and Vetere. “Two-Phase Flow during Transient Boiling of Hydrogen
and Determination of Nonequilibrium Vapor
Fractions,” Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, 9, 243-
253
2017 Shukla et al, “Investigation of transient chilldown phenomena in
tubes using liquid nitrogen”, IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering, 278(1).
13
 2019 Li, C. et al. “Thermal behaviour and flow instabilities during
transient chilldown of liquid rocket engine by passive
recirculation approach”, Cryogenics. Elsevier,
99(January), pp. 87–98.

3. Reduced gravity boiling and two-phase flow experiments

Year Author Reference list

1995 Adham-Khodaparast et al. “Flow Film Boiling Collapse and Surface Rewetting in
Normal and Reduced Gravity Conditions,”
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 38,
2749-2760

2008 Yuan, K. et al. Cryogenic boiling and two-phase flow during pipe
chilldown in earth and reduced gravity’, Journal of
Low Temperature Physics, 150(1–2), pp. 101–122.
doi: 10.1007/s10909-007-9521-8. 14
 Chilldown : Governing physics
Q𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 ≥ Q 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 + Q 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 Qflow : flow energy (J)
Qline : stored line energy (J)
Qparasite : parasitic heat leak energy (J)
ts
Qrad : radiation heat leak (W)
Q𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 = න mሶ (he − hin ) dt Qsen : sensor heat leak (W)
ta T : temperature (K)
ts t : time (s)
𝑑𝑇 m : mass of transfer line (kg)
Q 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = න m 𝐶𝑝 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡 mሶ : mass flow rate (kg/s)
ta
𝑎 : solid surface
ts
𝑠 : steady state
Q 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 = න (Q 𝑟𝑎𝑑 + Q 𝑠𝑒𝑛 )
ta
Eq. 1 (Hartwig et al., 2015) 15
 Two phase flow transition

• Dispersed flow
• Inverted annular flow
Liquid droplets
• Stratified wavy flow
• Stable stratified flow

Nucleate boiling Transition Film boiling

boiling
Fig 1: Flow transition in horizontal pipe line
(Chung and Yuan, 2015)
16
 Two phase flow transition

• Dispersed flow
• Inverted annular flow
Liquid droplets
• Stratified wavy flow
• Stable stratified flow Liquid filaments

Nucleate boiling Transition Film boiling

boiling
Fig 1: Flow transition in horizontal pipe line
(Chung and Yuan, 2015)
17
 Two phase flow transition

• Dispersed flow
Quenching point
• Inverted annular flow
Liquid droplets
• Stratified wavy flow
• Stable stratified flow Liquid filaments

Nucleate boiling Transition Film boiling

boiling
Fig 1: Flow transition in horizontal pipe line
(Chung and Yuan, 2015)
18
 Two phase flow transition

• Dispersed flow
Stratified flow Quenching point
• Inverted annular flow
Liquid droplets
• Stratified wavy flow
• Stable stratified flow Liquid filaments

Nucleate boiling Transition Film boiling

boiling
Fig 1: Flow transition in horizontal pipe line
(Chung and Yuan, 2015)
19
Fig2: Two-phase flow transition for chilldown process. A Dispersed flow. B inverted
annular flow. C ,D Transition stage. E,F stratified flow (Yuan et al., 2008) 20
 Liquid droplets/ mist

• Mist flow
• Inverted annular flow
Film boiling
• Bubble flow
Quenching
point
Transition
boiling

Nucleate
boiling
Fig 3: Flow transition in vertical pipe line
(Chung and Yuan, 2015) 21
 Heat transfer regimes

(a) (b)

Fig 4 : Chilldown characteristics curves

(a) T vs heat flux (b) T vs time (Darr et al., 2015) 22
Fig 5: Chilldown boiling curve (Hartwig et al., 2015)
23
 Chilldown methods for rocket engines

Fig 6: Schematic LOX passive recirculation precooling system (Cui Li 2018) 24

Fig 7: Schematic LOX passive recirculation precooling system (Li et al., 2019)
25
 Experimental procedure

Fig 8: Operation sequence of a LOX passive recirculation chilldown test (Li et al., 2019)
26
 Temperature drop histories

Fig 9: Wall temperature vs time (Li et al., 2019)

27
Top and bottom reflux configuration

Fig 10: Chilldown for liquid phase inlet/ bottom reflux

28
configuration(Chen et al., 2003)
Temperature drop and pressure histories

Fig 11: Temperature and pressure profile during chilldown for

liquid phase inlet/ bottom reflux configuration(Chen et al., 2003) 29
Temperature drop and pressure histories

Fig 12: Temperature and pressure profile during chilldown for gas
phase inlet/ top reflux configuration(Chen et al., 2003) 30
 Flow pattern instabilities

Fig 13: Recirculation flow and driving pressure difference vs time (Li et al., 2019)
31
Geysering in vertical transfer line

Fig 14: Mechanics of geysering instability (Hands, 1988)

32
 Conclusion
• Flow transition, flow instabilities and thermal behaviour of cryogenic chilldown
• The passive recirculation is highly susceptible to flow instabilities of which the flow
pattern transition instability and the flow geysering are the most representative in
the chilldown.
• indispensable complicated transient two phase flow process,
• efficiency and safety of whole cryogenic system.

33
 Reference
Barron, R. (1985). ‘Cryogenics Systems’. 2nd ed. New York: Clarendon Press, Oxford, p.63.
Chen, G. B. et al. (2003) ‘Experimental study on natural circulation precooling of
cryogenic pump system with gas phase inlet reflux configuration’, Cryogenics, 43(12), pp.
693–698. doi: 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2003.07.001
Chung, J. N. and Yuan, K. (2015) ‘Recent progress on experimental research of cryogenic
transport line chilldown process’, Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, 6(1). doi:
10.5098/hmt.6.1.
Darr, S. et al. (2015) ‘Numerical simulation of the liquid nitrogen chilldown of a vertical
tube’, 53rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, (January), pp. 1–13. doi: 10.2514/6.2015-
0468.
Hands, B. A. (1988) ‘Problems due to superheating of cryogenic liquids’, Cryogenics,
28(12), pp. 823–829. doi: 10.1016/0011-2275(88)90178-6.
Hartwig, J. et al. (2015) ‘Comparison of cryogenic flow boiling in liquid nitrogen and liquid
hydrogen chilldown experiments’, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.
Elsevier Ltd, 88, pp. 662–673. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.04.102. 34
Jackson, J. et al. (2005) ‘Transient heat transfer during cryogenic chilldown’, Proceedings
of the ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, 2, pp. 253–260. doi: 10.1115/HT2005-
72145.
Jackson, J. K. (2006) ‘Cryogenic two-phase flow during chilldown: Flow transition and
nucleate boiling heat transfer’.
Jiang, S. Y. et al. (2000) ‘Flow excursion phenomenon and its mechanism in natural
circulation’, Nuclear Engineering and Design, 202(1), pp. 17–26. doi: 10.1016/S0029-
5493(00)00301-0.
Jin, L. et al. (2016) ‘Experimental investigation on chill-down process of cryogenic flow
line’, Cryogenics. Elsevier Ltd, 79, pp. 96–105. doi: 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2016.08.006.
Li, C. et al. (2019) ‘Thermal behaviour and flow instabilities during transient chilldown of
liquid rocket engine by passive recirculation approach’, Cryogenics. Elsevier, 99(January),
pp. 87–98. doi: 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2019.03.004.
Murphy, D. W. (1965) ‘An Experimental Investigation of Geysering in Vertical Tubes’,
Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, pp. 353–359. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-3108-7_42.
35
Nayak, A. K. and Vijayan, P. K. (2008) ‘Flow instabilities in boiling two-phase natural
circulation systems: A review’, Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations, 2008. doi:
10.1155/2008/573192.
Ruspini, L. C. (2013) Carlos Ruspini Experimental and numerical investigation on two-
phase flow Undertittel på avhandlingen instabilities Fornavn Etternavn Leonardo Carlos
Ruspini Tittel på avhandlingen Experimental and numerical investigation on Undertittel
på avhandlingen fl.
Shaeffer, R., Hu, H. and Chung, J. N. (2013) ‘An experimental study on liquid nitrogen pipe
chilldown and heat transfer with pulse flows’, International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer. Elsevier Ltd, 67, pp. 955–966. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.08.037.
Shukla, A. K., Sridharan, A. and Atrey, M. D. (2017) ‘Investigation of transient chilldown
phenomena in tubes using liquid nitrogen’, IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering, 278(1). doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/278/1/012035.
Velat, C. J. (2004) ‘Experiments in Cryogenic Two Phase Flow’, Thesis Presented To the
Graduate School of the University of Florida.
36
YouTube. (2019). Cryogenic Transfer Line Chilldown Process: 1 - Beginning of Flow.
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO-
FcZNAKFk&list=PLndEULTswG5Z_pb8HkGs381EBE- ixKIQk&index=7&pbjreload=10
[Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Cryogenic Transfer Line Chilldown Process: 2 - Middle of process.
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=e8GTsiirV7Q
[Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Cryogenic Transfer Line Chilldown Process: 3 - End of process. [online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPUNzreslH8 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
Yuan, K. et al. (2008) ‘Cryogenic boiling and two-phase flow during pipe chilldown in
earth and reduced gravity’, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 150(1–2), pp. 101–122.
doi: 10.1007/s10909-007-9521-8.
Yuan, K., Chung, J. N. and Ji, Y. (2005) ‘Cryogenic two-phase flow and heat transfer under
terrestrial and microgravity’, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Heat Transfer
Division, (Publication) HTD, 376 HTD(2), pp. 265–270. doi: 10.1115/IMECE2005-80613.

37
Thank you

38