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Home   /   Post Doctorat   /   Condensation of Humid Air during Loss of Insulation Accident in a LH2 tank (CHALIA Project)

Condensation of Humid Air during Loss of Insulation Accident in a LH2 tank (CHALIA Project)

Engineering sciences Metrology Thermal energy, combustion, flows

Abstract

Liquid hydrogen is increasingly becoming the key energy vector for industrial decarbonization in heavy mobility. It is stored at 20K in a double-walled tank with an insulating vacuum. Any compromise to the integrity of the outer wall will allow hot air to enter the insulating vacuum. Nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor will condense or even desublimate on the cold wall of the inner tank, thereby transferring heat to the cryogen, which will begin to boil. This boiling causes a pressure increase, leading to the opening of safety valves to prevent tank rupture. To better understand these complex phenomena, the CEA, Fenex Collaborative Research Center, and the University of Western Australia have submitted the CHALIA project to the Franco-Australian Center for Energy Transition. This project was approved in October. The post-doctoral position offered by the CEA involves setting up an analytical experiment using an existing glass cryostat to study in detail the various phenomena and measure the heat fluxes transmitted to the cryogen during the different phases of the accident. A gradual approach is proposed, starting with nitrogen entry before progressing to a binary mixture (synthetic air) or a ternary mixture (humid air). The project also aims to identify and quantify the phases involved in the process using various optical methods. The work will be conducted in close collaboration with researchers from the University of Western Australia, who will focus on scaling up the findings.

Laboratory

Département de Modélisation des Systèmes et Structures
Service de Thermohydraulique et de Mécanique des Fluides
Laboratoire d’Instrumentation et Expérimentation en mécanique des Fluides et Thermohydraulique
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