This paper presents a systematic analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in a liquid hydrogen storage vessel for both earth and space applications. The study considered a cylindrical tank with elliptical top and bottom. The tank wall is made of aluminum and a multi-layered blanket of cryogenic insulation (MLI) has been attached on the top of the aluminum. The tank is connected to a cryocooler to dissipate the heat leak through the insulation and tank wall into the fluid within the tank. The cryocooler has not been modeled; only the flow in and out of the tank to the cryocooler system has been included. The primary emphasis of this research has been the fluid circulation within the tank for different fluid distribution scenario and for different level of gravity to simulate potential earth and space based applications. The equations solved in the liquid region included the conservation of mass, conservation of energy, and conservation of momentum. For the solid region only the heat conduction equation was solved. The steady-state velocity, temperature, and pressure distributions were calculated for different inlet positions, inlet velocities, and for different gravity values. The above simulations were carried out for constant heat flux and constant wall temperature cases. It was observed that a good flow circulation could be obtained when the cold entering fluid was made to flow in radial direction and the inlet opening was placed close to the tank wall.

The primary focus of this paper is the conjugate heat transfer during vertical impingement of a two-dimensional (slot) submerged confined liquid jet using liquid ammonia as the working fluid. Numerical model for the heat transfer process has been developed. The solid region has been modeled along with the fluid region as a conjugate problem. Discrete heat sources have been used to study the overall effect on convective heat transfer. Simulation of discrete heat sources was done by introducing localized heat fluxes at various locations and their magnitudes being varied. Simulations are performed for two different substrate materials namely silicon and stainless steel. The equations solved in the liquid region included the conservation of mass, conservation of momentum, and conservation of energy. In the solid region, only the energy equation, which reduced to the heat conduction equation, had to be solved. The solid-fluid interface temperature showed a strong dependence on several geometric, fluid flow, and heat transfer parameters. The Nusselt number increased with Reynolds number. For a given flow rate, a higher heat transfer coefficient was obtained with smaller slot width and lower impingement height. For a constant Reynolds number, jet impingement height and plate thickness, a wider opening of the slot provided higher average heat transfer coefficient and higher average Nusselt number. A higher average heat transfer coefficient was seen at a smaller thickness, whereas a thicker plate provided a more uniform distribution of heat transfer coefficient. Higher thermal conductivity substrates also provided a more uniform heat distribution.

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