MECH 445/543 Cryogenic Engineering Summer 2007

5/8/2007

Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Introduction to Cryogenics

Instructor: Office Hours: Office Location: Email: Web Page: Lecture Times: Lecture Location: Assessment:

Dr. A. Rowe Open EOW 527 arowe@uvic.ca http://www.me.uvic.ca/~mech445 Tue, Wed, Fri 10:30-11:30 COR B111

Problem Sets (5) Quiz x 2 Project Total

25% 50% 25% 100%

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Description

We will (try) to cover the following:

History of cryogenics Material properties at low temperatures Overview of superconductivity and applications Review of heat transfer and thermodynamics Insulation techniques Storage vessels Methods of producing low temperatures Liquefaction Cryocoolers Regenerators analysis and design Magnetic refrigeration AMR devices

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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

What is Cryogenics?

Not well defined

production of cold more specifically, low temperatures.

Near room temperature refrigeration, HVAC applications: -40 to 30 C NIST anything below 123 K (-150 C) Permanent Gases, nbp < -150 C

Air, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Neon, Hydrogen, Helium

Conventional refrigerants nbp >123 K Development of low temperature techniques, processes, equipment applications Cryophysics study of fundamental phenomena
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Cryogenic engineering

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Reference points

7 kg of copper!
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Uses of Cryogenics

Production of Industrial Gases

Gas or liquid Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon, Neon, Krypton, Xenon, Helium Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Liquid/Slush Hydrogen (LH2) Freezing and storage Transportation Cryopreservation (cryonics) Cryogsurgery Electronics Pharmaceuticals Space simulation
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Cryogenic Fuels (Cryofuels)

Food Preservation

Biology and medicine

Cryopumping

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Uses of Cryogenics

Industrial applications

Metal processing Plastics and rubber Cryoelectronics Shrinkfitting of metal components Power transmission Motors, generators Magnets Transport Ore separation Medical diagnostics MRI, MEG SQUIDS measure small magnetic fields Communications cellphone filters

Superconducting Devices

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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Uses of Cryogenics

Industrial gas production via air separation (~$5 Billion sales yr)

Distillation separates out components with different nbp (normal boiling point)

High purity Economical in large scale Production of rare gases (non-reactive) common near-ambient method Questair hydrogen purification

Pressure Swing Absorption

Industrial Gas Uses

Oxygen

Steel making (~50% of LOX), medical oxygen, diving, flying, welding, metallurgical treatment Transportation, space propulsion

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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Air Separation

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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Industrial gases cont.

Nitrogen

Medium for low temperatures Food transportation and storage (hamburgers, shrimp, airline ~ 800 tons per yr galley cool) Metal treatment Enhancing oil recovery Fertilizers Electronic manufacturing (shield gas) Lamps, signs, scientific experiments

Neon, Krypton, Xenon

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Industrial gases cont.

Helium

Sources:

atmospheric air only 5 ppm Radioactive rocks and sands (monazite, used by Onnes to provide helium) Natural gas

currently dominant commercial source. Certain wells have relatively high concentrations of 0.3% or more, with a rare upper limit of about 2%.

Uses: (1991 USA)

welding ~13 million m3, MRI with ~13 million m3

both ~ 20% in the total US helium market,

other purging, lifting and leisure, research and superconductivity, leak detection, controlled atmospheres, fibre optics production, chromatography, breathing atmosphere, heat transfer ranged between 3% and 11% each

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Industrial gases cont.

Helium Act of 1925

authorized US Bureau of Mines to build & operate a large-scale helium extraction and purification plant

from 1929 to 1960 federal government only helium producer in the USA. provide incentives to natural gas producers for extracting helium, for purchase of the helium by the government and for its long term storage in an exhausted gas field.

In 1960 the Helium Act amended

Since the mid-1980s private consumption of helium has increased significantly, private production of helium is thriving (13 companies in the USA)

industry keeps helium storage in the same field as the government. Because of high costs of helium storage Ended production, refining and marketing of helium by government stockpile of crude helium must be sold by 2015.

US Helium Privatization Act passed in 1996,

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Industrial gases cont.

Helium cont.

In 1996 USA consumed ~72 million m3 and exported ~24 million m3

export quantity over 4 times greater than all helium produced in rest of world.

Most of helium is marketed as liquid and transported in large containers of 40 m3 volume

3,200 containers per year world-wide

US stored helium amounts to equivalent of ~32,000 containers, ~ 10 x the actual world-wide consumption of liquid helium (much less now.)
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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Uses of Cryogenics

Space program a key driver for liquid cryogencs

Kennedy Space Centre consumes over 2.3 million m3 of helium gas for shuttle processing and launch requirements (pressurizing and purging of fuel tanks and vessels.) LH2, LO2 (LOX ~ 2% of total usage)

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Applications H2

1438 m3 LH2

530 m3 LOX
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Industrial gases cont.

10 hydrogen liquefaction plants in North America

Train size ranges from 6 to 35 TPD (5,400 to 32,000 kg/day)

In the 1960s, liquid hydrogen plants built to support the Apollo program. Today, liquid hydrogen used to reduce the cost of distribution

Delivering a full tube trailer provides less than 400 kg modern liquid hydrogen trailer carries 4000 kg

TPD

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Industrial gases cont.

Hydrogen:

Fuel, oil upgrading, food processing, metal refining Air Products liquid hydrogen plant near Sacramento, Calif., supplies high-purity product to a variety of industries, including electronics, metals, and aerospace.
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Mech 445 Cryogenic Engineering - Lecture 1

Industrial gases cont.

LNG (liquefied natural gas)

Compositions can vary (well dependent) Major component in landfill gas Pipeline grade ~98% methane Good wells up near 90%, 70% medium Uses: transport, peak shaving, power generation Growing in importance worldwide

Food processing

Faster cooling using LN2 Transport of food

BOC Polarstream system: truck contains LN2 dewar, spray headers

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Gum hardening, ice cream

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Medicine/Biology

Cryopreservation

Tissue and cells in LN2 Cooling/warming rates critical, ice crystals can destroy cell walls Larger organs difficult

Non-uniform temperatures, fluid salt variations due to migration, unequal contraction People - ~50 frozen, not much point

Cryosurgery

Frozen tissue has no blood supply and dies due to lack of oxygen. Wart removal Cryofinger for internal surgery: decreased chance of infection

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Cryopumping

Create a vacuum in two ways:

Remove gas from vessel Immobilize gas by freezing/absorption on a surface Or can use cryocooler with cold panels Create very high vacuum High pumping speed Used in space simulation chambers where vacuum is on order of <10-10 torr

Use LN2, LHe to freeze out unwanted residual gas

1 torr = 1mm Hg (760 mm Hg=1 atm)

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History

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History

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History

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History

1986 1990s 1993 2001

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G. Bednorz and K.A. Muller, superconductivity in the mixed copper oxides LaBaCuO (Tc = 37 K) and LaSrCuO (Tc=40 K) Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10, = Bi-2223 (Tc = 110 K), Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8,, =Bi-2212 (Tc = 92 K) HgCaBaCuO found to have a critical temperature of 133.5 K MgB2 (Tc = 40 K), metal (not ceramics)
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Summary
Many interesting areas to explore. We will down select to focus on a subset

How

to create cryogenic temperatures to maintain low temperatures at some applications along the way.

Refrigeration, liquefaction, cryocoolers Insulation, design, materials

How

Look

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