Development and parametric study of the convection-type stationary adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for hydrogen re-condensation

The adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) system in this paper is composed of a conduction-cooled current cycling high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet system, a magnetic bed assembly, its heat exchange parts and an auxiliary precooling stage (a commercial GM cryocooler and a liquid nitrogen vessel). The whole magnetic refrigeration system including the conduction-cooled HTS magnet is cooled by the precooling stage to absorb the rejection heat of the ADR cycle. The packed bed type magnetic bed consists of tiny irregular powders of Dy_0.9Gd_0.1Ni₂ enclosed in a thin walled stainless steel container (22.2 mm in O.D., 0.3 mm in thickness and 40.0 mm in height). The precooled heat transfer fluid (helium) travels through the magnetic material when heat rejection is required; otherwise the helium stagnates within its pores (pseudo-adiabatic process). Flow of the heat transfer fluid substitutes for the function of a traditional heat switch, creating, essentially, a forced-convection type heat switch. The magnetic bed assembly is periodically magnetized and demagnetized at the center of the conduction-cooled HTS magnet which can stably generate both strong and alternating magnetic field from 0 T to 3.0 T (0–130 A) with an average ramp rate of 0.24 T s⁻¹. The cooling capacities of the ADR system at 20 K which is the normal boiling point (NBP) of hydrogen, are 11.1 J cycle⁻¹, 6.3 J cycle⁻¹ and 1.9 J cycle⁻¹ when the temperature spans are 1 K, 2 K and 3 K, respectively. We describe the detailed construction of the ADR system and discuss the test results with the operational parameters (the entrained helium pressure, the mass flow rate of helium and the operating temperature span) in the 20 K region.     

Modelization of the thermal coupling between the ITER TF coil conductor and the structure cooling circuit

The ITER Toroidal Field (TF) coils are required not to quench during the most demanding event: a plasma disruption followed by a fast discharge of the Central Solenoid (CS), the Poloidal Field (PF) coils and the Correction Coils (CC). This event creates large heat deposition in the ITER magnet stainless steel structures in addition to the conductor AC losses. In order to prevent quench occurring in the TF conductor, cooling channels, implemented in the TF coil structure (TFCS), have to remove a large fraction of the heat deposited. The first integrated TF and structure mock-up has been manufactured and then tested in the HELIOS cryogenic test facility (CEA Grenoble) to determine the thermal coupling between the TFCS and the TF conductor, both actively cooled by supercritical helium at 4.4 K and 5 bar. It consists in a stainless steel casing, a cooling pipe glued with resin in the casing groove, winding pack (WP) ground insulation, a radial plate and a copper dummy cable-in-conduit-conductor (CICC). Steady state as well as transient thermal characterizations have been completed in May 2015. Simulation results by thermal hydraulic codes (VENECIA/SuperMagnet) and some of the experimental data are presented and discussed. The thermal coupling between the helium in the cooling tube and the TF coil structure is then modelled as an equivalent heat transfer coefficient in order to simplify the thermal hydraulic (TH) models. Comparison between simplified coupling and detailed coupling is presented.     

Two-phase heat transfer and pressure drop of LNG during saturated flow boiling in a horizontal tube

Two-phase heat transfer and pressure drop of LNG (liquefied natural gas) have been measured in a horizontal smooth tube with an inner diameter of 8 mm. The experiments were conducted at inlet pressures from 0.3 to 0.7 MPa with a heat flux of 8–36 kW m⁻², and mass flux of 49.2–201.8 kg m⁻² s⁻¹. The effect of vapor quality, inlet pressure, heat flux and mass flux on the heat transfer characteristic are discussed. The comparisons of the experimental data with the predicted value by existing correlations are analyzed. Zou et al. (2010) correlation shows the best accuracy with 24.1% RMS deviation among them. Moreover four frictional pressure drop methods are also chosen to compare with the experimental database.     

A review of thermal-hydraulic issues in ITER cable-in-conduit conductors

Problems related to cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) are intrinsically multi-physics involving coupled electro-magnetic/mechanical/thermal-hydraulic fields. Here we concentrate on the thermal-hydraulic issues because, although the CICC was first proposed for the low-T_C superconducting coils of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) many years ago, CICC thermal-hydraulics alone is less understood than could be expected. Some of the difficulties are due to the multi-channel nature of the ITER CICC, where strands containing the superconducting filaments are twisted in multi-stage sub-bundles (petals) delimited by wrappings and concentrated in an annular (porous-medium like) region, while a central channel, delimited by a spiral, provides lower hydraulic impedance and pressure relief to the flow of the supercritical helium coolant. Other difficulties are related to the multi-scale nature of this problem, with length scales relevant for thermal-hydraulics ranging from the strand diameter (<∼10⁻³ m), to the CICC length in a coil (up to several 10² m). On the other hand, taking advantage of this length-scale separation, the models presently used for CICC simulations are typically 1D (along the conductor) but they need constitutive relations (like friction and heat transfer coefficients) for the transverse mass, momentum and energy transport processes occurring between different conductor elements. The database for the transverse transport coefficients, unfortunately, does not appear complete, or free of internal contradictions, often because the smallness of the transverse scales makes even an experimental assessment of these processes difficult. Here we discuss these issues and possible strategies for overcoming some of the difficulties are proposed.     

Negative thermal expansion in silicalite-1 and zirconium silicalite-1 having MFI structure

In situ high temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) studies on monoclinic silicalite-1 (S-1, silica polymorph of ZSM-5) and an orthorhombic metallosilicate molecular sieve, zirconium silicalite-1 (ZrS-1) with MFI structure (Si/Zr = 50) have been carried out using a laboratory X-ray diffractometer with an Anton Parr HTK 1600 attachment. While the structure of the S-1 collapsed at 1123 K forming α-cristobalite. S-1 and ZrS-1 showed a complex thermal expansion behavior in the temperature range 298–1023 K, ZrS-1 was stable. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data taken in this region have shown strong negative lattice thermal expansion coefficient, α_V = −6.75 × 10⁻⁶ and −17.92 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ in the temperature range 298–1023 K⁻¹ for S-1 and ZrS-1 samples, respectively. The thermal expansion behavior of S-1 and ZrS-1 is anisotropic, with the relative strength of contraction along a axis is more than that along b and c axes. Three different thermal expansion regions could be identified in the overall temperature range (298–1023 K) studied, corroborating with the three steps of weight loss in the TG curve of ZrS-1 sample. While the region between 298 and 423 K, displays positive thermal expansion coefficient with α_V = 2.647 × 10⁻⁶ and 4.24 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, the second region between 423 and 873 K shows strong negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient α_V = −7.602 × 10⁻⁶ and −15.04 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, respectively, for S-1 and ZrS-1 samples. The region between 873 and 1023 K, shows a very strong NTE coefficient with α_V = −12.08 × 10⁻⁶ and −45.622 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ for S-1 and ZrS-1, respectively, which is the highest in the whole temperature range studied. NTE seen over a temperature range 298–1023 K could be associated with transverse vibrations of bridging oxygen atoms in the structure which results in an apparent shortening of the Si–O distances.     

Pressure drop and heat transfer during two-phase flow vaporization of propane in horizontal smooth minichannels

This study examined the two-phase flow boiling pressure drop and heat transfer for propane, as a long term alternative refrigerant, in horizontal minichannels. The pressure drop and local heat transfer coefficients were obtained for heat fluxes ranging from 5–20 kW m^?2, mass fluxes ranging from 50–400 kg m^?2 s^?1, saturation temperatures of 10, 5 and 0 °C, and quality up to 1.0. The test section was made of stainless steel tubes with inner diameters of 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm, and lengths of 1000 mm and 2000 mm, respectively. The present study showed the effect of mass flux, heat flux, inner tube diameter and saturation temperature on pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient. The experimental results were compared against several existing pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient prediction methods. Because the study on evaporation with propane in minichannels was limited, new correlations of pressure drop and boiling heat transfer coefficient were developed in this present study.     

Growing polystyrene chains from the surface of graphene layers via RAFT polymerization and the influence on their thermal properties

The polystyrene (PS) macromolecular chains were grafted on the surface of graphene layers by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. In this procedure, a RAFT agent, 4-Cyano-4-[(dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl) sulfanyl] pentanoic acid, was used to functionalize the thermal reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) to obtain the precursor (TRGO-RAFT). It can be calculated that the grafting density of PS/graphene (PRG) composites was about 0.18 chains per 100 carbons. Successful in-plain attachment of RAFT agent to TRGO and PS chain to TRGO-RAFT was shown an influence on the thermal property of the PRG composites. The thermal conductivity (λ) improved from 0.150 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ of neat PS to 0.250 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ of PRG composites with 10 wt% graphene sheets loading. The thermal property of PRG composites increased due to the homogeneous dispersion and ordered arrangement of graphene sheets in PS matrix and the formation of PRG composites.     

Flight model performance test results of a helium dewar for the soft X-ray spectrometer onboard ASTRO-H

ASTRO-H is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite, scheduled to be launched in fiscal year 2015. The mission includes a soft X-ray spectrometer instrument (SXS), which contains an X-ray micro calorimeter operating at 50 mK by using an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The heat sink of the ADR is superfluid liquid helium below 1.3 K. The required lifetime of the superfluid helium is 3 years or more. In order to realize this lifetime, we have improved the thermal performance from the engineering model (EM) while maintaining the mechanical performance. Then, we have performed a thermal test of the flight model (FM). The results were that the heat load to the helium tank was reduced to below 0.8 mW in the FM from 1.2 mW in the EM. Therefore, the lifetime of the superfluid helium is more than 3 years with 30 L of liquid helium.In this paper, the thermal design and thermal test results are described.     

Study on thermal properties of graphene foam/graphene sheets filled polymer composites

The polymer composites composed of graphene foam (GF), graphene sheets (GSs) and pliable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were fabricated and their thermal properties were investigated. Due to the unique interconnected structure of GF, the thermal conductivity of GF/PDMS composite reaches 0.56 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, which is about 300% that of pure PDMS, and 20% higher than that of GS/PDMS composite with the same graphene loading of 0.7 wt%. Its coefficient of thermal expansion is (80–137) × 10⁻⁶/K within 25–150 °C, much lower than those of GS/PDMS composite and pure PDMS. In addition, it also shows superior thermal and dimensional stability. All above results demonstrate that the GF/PDMS composite is a good candidate for thermal interface materials, which could be applied in the thermal management of electronic devices, etc.     

Experimental investigation of the influence of different leaking gases on the heat transfer in a HVMLI cryogenic tank after SCLIV

This paper presented an experimental investigation of the influence of different leaking gases on the heat transfer process in a high-vacuum-multilayer-insulation (HVMLI) cryogenic tank after sudden catastrophic loss of insulation vacuum (SCLIV). The experiments were conducted with the breakdown of the insulation vacuum with nitrogen, air, helium, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and the gas mixture of argon and carbon dioxide. The maximum value of the venting rate and heat flux could be ordered as following: CO₂ > O₂ > Ar > the gas mixture > He > Air > N₂, while the average value of the venting rate and heat flux could be ordered as following: O₂ > Ar > He > the gas mixture > CO₂ > Air > N₂. The temperature distribution indicated that phase change heat transfer happened in the insulation jacket after the five different gases including air, argon, the gas mixture of argon and carbon dioxide, oxygen and carbon dioxide were introduced into the insulation jacket.     

Studies on the electrochemical preparation of MgCeCo alloy thin films on Cu substrates in urea–DMSO system

Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the electrochemical behaviors of Mg(II), Ce(III) and Co(II) in 3.00 mol L^− 1 urea–DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide). The electrode processes of Mg(II), Ce(III) and Co(II) reducing on Pt electrodes were irreversible steps. The transfer coefficient of Mg(II), Ce(III) and Co(II) in 3.00 mol L^− 1 urea–DMSO system was calculated as 0.07, 0.05 and 0.05 at 298.15 K, respectively. The diffusion coefficient of Mg(II), Ce(III) and Co(II) in 3.00 mol L^− 1 urea–DMSO system was calculated as 2.27 × 10^− 10, 1.77 × 10^− 10 and 3.16 × 10^− 10 m² s^− 1 at 298.15 K, respectively. The MgCeCo alloy thin films with smooth, uniform and metallic luster were obtained on Cu substrates by cyclic electrodeposition in 0.01 mol L^− 1 Mg(ClO₄)₂–0.01 mol·L^− 1 Ce(CH₃SO₃)₃₋0.01 mol L^− 1 CoCl₂–3.00 mol L^− 1 urea–DMSO system. The potential sweep rate was found to be important with respect to the adhesion of the thin films.     

Effect of copper content on the thermal conductivity and thermal expansion of Al–Cu/diamond composites

Al–Cu matrix composites reinforced with diamond particles (Al–Cu/diamond composites) have been produced by a squeeze casting method. Cu content added to Al matrix was varied from 0 to 3.0 wt.% to detect the effect on thermal conductivity and thermal expansion behavior of the resultant Al–Cu/diamond composites. The measured thermal conductivity for the Al–Cu/diamond composites increased from 210 to 330 W/m/K with increasing Cu content from 0 to 3.0 wt.%. Accordingly, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was tailored from 13 × 10⁻⁶ to 6 × 10⁻⁶/K, which is compatible with the CTE of semiconductors in electronic packaging applications. The enhanced thermal conductivity and reduced coefficient of thermal expansion were ascribed to strong interface bonding in the Al–Cu/diamond composites. Cu addition has lowered the melting point and resulted in the formation of Al₂Cu phase in Al matrix. This is the underlying mechanism responsible for the strengthening of Al–Cu/diamond interface. The results show that Cu alloying is an effective approach to promoting interface bonding between Al and diamond.     

Electrical and thermal conductivity in Mg–5Sn Alloy at different aging status

The electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and its relationship with the microstructure in Mg–5Sn alloy aged at 513 K for different aging times were investigated systematically in this paper. The results show that the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity obviously increase with the increasing aging time, and its values increase from 10.25 × 10⁶ S·m^− 1 to 13.7 × 10⁶ S·m^− 1, 87.5 W·m^− 1·K^− 1 to 122 W·m^− 1·K^− 1 after aging treatment for 120 h, respectively. Meanwhile, it is found that there exist quite different relationships between unit cell volume and thermal conductivity in early and later aging stages.     

Cryogenic flat-panel gas-gap heat switch

A compact additive manufactured flat-panel gas-gap heat switch operating at cryogenic temperature is reported in this paper. A guarded-hot-plate apparatus has been developed to measure the thermal conductance of the heat switch with the heat sink temperature in the range of 100–180 K. The apparatus is cooled by a two-stage GM cooler and the temperature is controlled with a heater and a braided copper wire connection. A thermal guard is mounted on the hot side of the device to confine the heat flow axially through the sample. A gas handling system allows testing the device with different gas pressures in the heat switch. Experiments are performed at various heat sink temperatures, by varying gas pressure in the gas-gap and with helium, hydrogen and nitrogen gas. The measured off-conductance with a heat sink temperature of 115 K and the hot plate at 120 K is 0.134 W/K, the on-conductance with helium and hydrogen gases at the same temperatures is 4.80 W/K and 4.71 W/K, respectively. This results in an on/off conductance ratio of 37 ± 7 and 35 ± 6 for helium and hydrogen respectively. The experimental results matches fairly well with the predicted heat conductance at cryogenic temperatures.     

Investigation of La3 + Doped Yb2Sn2O7 as new thermal barrier materials

Low thermal conductivity is one of the key requirements for thermal barrier coating materials. From the consideration of crystal structure and ion radius, La^3 + Doped Yb₂Sn₂O₇ ceramics with pyrochlore crystal structures were synthesized by sol–gel method as candidates of thermal barrier materials in aero-engines. As La^3 + and Yb^3 + ions have the largest radius difference in lanthanoid group, La^3 + ions were expected to produce significant disorders by replacing Yb^3 + ions in cation layers of Yb₂Sn₂O₇. Both experimental and computational phase analyses were carried out, and good agreement had been obtained. The lattice constants of solid solution (La_xYb_1 − x)₂Sn₂O₇ (x = 0.3, 0.5, 0.7) increased linearly when the content of La^3 + was increased. The thermal properties (thermal conductivity and coefficients of thermal expansion) of the synthesized materials had been compared with traditional 8 wt.% yttria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) and La₂Zr₂O₇ (LZ). It was found that La^3 + Doped Yb₂Sn₂O₇ exhibited lower thermal conductivities than un-doped stannates. Amongst all compositions studied, (La_0.5Yb_0.5)₂Sn₂O₇ exhibited the lowest thermal conductivity (0.851 W·m^− 1·K^− 1 at room temperature), which was much lower than that of 8YSZ (1.353 W·m^− 1·K^− 1), and possessed a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), 13.530 × 10^− 6 K^− 1 at 950 °C.     

Effect of metalloid silicon addition on densification,microstructure and thermal–physical properties of Al/diamond composites consolidated by spark plasma sintering

Aluminum matrix composites reinforced with diamond particles were consolidated by spark plasma sintering. Metalloid silicon was added (Al–Si/diamond composites) to investigate the effect. Silicon addition promotes the formation of molten metal during the sintering to facilitate the densification and enhance the interfacial bonding. Meanwhile, the alloying metal matrix precipitates the eutectic-Si on the diamond surfaces acting as the transitional part to protect the improved interface during the cooling stage. The improved interface and precipitating eutectic-Si phase are mutually responsible for the optimized properties of the composites. In this study, for the Al–Si/diamond composite with 55 vol.% diamonds of 75 μm diameter, the thermal conductivity increased from 200 to 412 Wm⁻¹ K⁻¹, and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) decreased from 8.9 to 7.3 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, compared to the Al/diamond composites. Accordingly, the residual plastic strain was 0.10 × 10⁻³ during the first cycle and rapidly became negligible during the second. Additionally, the measured CTE of the Al–Si/diamond composites was more conform to the Schapery’s model.     

A capric–palmitic–stearic acid ternary eutectic mixture/expanded graphite composite phase change material for thermal energy storage

This paper demonstrated a capric acid–palmitic acid–stearic acid ternary eutectic mixture/expanded graphite (CA–PA–SA/EG) composite phase change material (PCM) for low-temperature heat storage. The CA–PA–SA ternary eutectic mixture with a mass ratio of CA:PA:SA = 79.3:14.7:6.0 was prepared firstly, and its mass ratio in the CA–PA–SA/EG composite can reach as high as 90%. The melting and freezing temperatures of CA–PA–SA/EG composite were 21.33 °C and 19.01 °C, and the corresponding latent heat were 131.7 kJ kg⁻¹ and 127.2 kJ kg⁻¹. The CA–PA–SA/EG composite powders can be formed into round blocks by dry pressing easily, with much higher thermal conductivity than CA–PA–SA. Thermal performance test showed that the increasing thermal conductivity of CA–PA–SA could obviously decrease the melting/cooling time. Thermal property characterizations after 500 heating/cooling cycles test indicated that CA–PA–SA/EG composite PCM had excellent thermal reliability. Based on all these results, CA–PA–SA/EG composite PCM is a promising material for low-temperature thermal energy storage applications.     

A modified Zerilli–Armstrong constitutive model to predict hot deformation behavior of 20CrMo alloy steel

True stress and true strain values were obtained from isothermal hot compression tests conducted on a Gleeble thermal simulation machine, in a wide range of temperatures (1173–1373 K) and strain rates (1.5 × 10⁻³–1.5 × 10⁻² s⁻¹). The experimental data were used to develop a modified Zerilli–Armstrong constitutive model. The predicted flow stresses using the developed model were compared with experimental values. A correlation coefficient (R) of 0.989 and an average absolute relative error (AARE) of 7.71% between the measured and calculated flow stresses have been obtained. Comparing with a modified Johnson–Cook model developed in the authors’ previous study, the accuracy, the number of material constants involved and the computational time required of the model were evaluated.     

Constitutive analysis to predict high temperature flow stress in 20CrMo continuous casting billet

The experimental true strain–true stress data from isothermal hot compression tests on a Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation machine, across a wide range of temperatures (1173–1373 K) and strain rates (1.5 × 10⁻³–1.5 × 10⁻² s⁻¹), were employed to study the deformation behavior and develop constitutive equations of 20CrMo alloy continuous casting billet steel. The objective was to obtain the relational expression for deformation activation energy and material constants as a function of true strain and the constitutive equation for high temperature deformation of 20CrMo based on the hyperbolic sine form model. A correlation coefficient of 0.988 and an average absolute relative error between the experimental and the calculated flow stress of 8.40% have been obtained. This indicates that the constitutive equations can be used to accurately predict the flow behavior of 20CrMo alloy steel continuous casting billet during high temperature deformation.     

High-temperature electrical resistivity and heat capacity studies on nano-crystalline geikielite

We report here for the first time the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity and heat capacity of nano-crystalline MgTiO₃ geikielite of up to 1000 K. The temperature dependence of heat capacity of nano-crystalline geikielite expressed as C_p = 46.44(5) + 0.0502(2)T − 4.56 × 10⁶T² + 1.423 × 10³T^− 0.5 − 8.672 × 10^− 6T^− 2, where C_p = is specific heat expressed in J/mol. K and T is the temperature in K. Both the electrical resistivity and heat capacity behaviour show that the geikielite (both the natural and synthetic nano-crystalline samples) are stable and remains electrically insulating up to 1000 K.