Improvement of accumulator in cryogenic hydrogen system used for 1-MW pulsed spallation neutron source

Aso, Tomokazu; Tatsumoto, Hideki*; Otsu, Kiichi*; Kawakami, Yoshihiko*; Komori, Shinji*; Muto, Hideki*; Takada, Hiroshi

JAEA-Technology 2019-013, 77 Pages, 2019/09

JAEA-Technology-2019-013.pdf:5.59MB

At Materials and Life Science experimental Facility (MLF) of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), a 1-MW pulsed spallation neutron source is equipped with a cryogenic hydrogen system which circulates liquid hydrogen (20 K and 1.5 MPa) to convert high energy neutrons generated at a mercury target to cold neutrons at three moderators with removing nuclear heat of 3.8 kW deposited there. The cryogenic system includes an accumulator with a bellows structure in order to absorb pressure fluctuations generated by the nuclear heat deposition in the system. Welded inner bellows of the first accumulator was failured during operation, forcing us to improve the accumulator to have sufficient pressure resistance and longer life-time. We have developed elemental technologies for manufacturing welded bellows of the accumulator by a thick plate with high pressure resistance, succeeding to find optimum welding conditions. We fabricated a prototype bellows block and carried out an endurance test by adding a pressure change of 2 MPa repeatedly. As a result, the prototype bellows was successfully in use exceeding the design life of 10,000 times. Since distortions given during welding and assembling affect functionality and lifetime of the bellows, we set the levelness of each element of the bellows as within 0.1. The improved accumulator has already been in operation for about 25,000 hours as of January 2019, resulting that the number of strokes reached to 16,000. In July 2018, we demonstrated that the accumulator could suppress the pressure fluctuation generated by the 932 kW beam injection as designed. As current operational beam power is 500 kW, the current cryogenic hydrogen system could be applicable for stable operation at higher power in the future.

Transient heat transfer from a wire to a forced flow of subcooled liquid hydrogen passing through a vertically-mounted pipe

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuyuki*; Shiotsu, Masahiro*; Naruo, Yoshihiro*; Kobayashi, Hiroaki*; Nonaka, Satoshi*; Inatani, Yoshifumi*

IOP Conference Series; Materials Science and Engineering, 101, p.012177_1 - 012177_8, 2015/12

https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/101/1/012177

Transient heat transfers from PtCo wire heaters inserted into vertically-mounted pipes, through which forced flow subcooled liquid hydrogen was passed, were measured by increasing the exponential heat input with various time periods at a pressure of 0.7 MPa and inlet temperature of 21 K. The flow velocities ranged from 0.3 to 7 m/s. The PtCo wire heaters had a diameter of 1.2 mm and lengths of 60 mm, 120 mm and 200 mm and were inserted into the pipes with diameters of 5.7mm, 8.0 mm, and 5.0 mm, respectively. With increase in the heat flux to the onset of nucleate boiling, surface temperature increased along the curve predicted by the Dittus-Boelter correlation for longer period, where it can be almost regarded as steady-state. For shorter period, the heat transfer became higher than the Dittus-Boelter correlation. In nucleate boiling regime, the heat flux steeply increased to the transient critical heat flux (CHF), which became higher for shorter period. Effect of flow velocity, period, and heated geometry on the transient CHF was clarified.

Pressure and temperature fluctuation simulation of J-PARC cryogenic hydrogen system

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Otsu, Kiichi; Aso, Tomokazu; Kawakami, Yoshihiko

IOP Conference Series; Materials Science and Engineering, 101, p.012109_1 - 012109_8, 2015/12

https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/101/1/012109

The J-PARC cryogenic hydrogen system provides supercritical cryogenic hydrogen to the moderators at a pressure of 1.5 MPa and temperature of 18 K and removes 3.8 kW of nuclear heat from the 1 MW proton beam operation. We prepared a heater for thermal compensation and an accumulator, with a bellows structure for volume control, to mitigate the pressure fluctuation caused by switching the proton beam on and off. In this study, a 1-D simulation code named DiSC-SH2 was developed to understand the propagation of pressure and temperature propagations through the hydrogen loop due to on and off switching of the proton beam. We confirmed that the simulated dynamic behaviors in the hydrogen loop for 300-kW and 500-kW proton beam operations agree well with the experimental data under the same conditions.

Development of an experimental system for characterization of high-temperature superconductors cooled by liquid hydrogen under the external magnetic field

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuyuki*; Shiotsu, Masahiro*; Naruo, Yoshihiro*; Kobayashi, Hiroaki*; Inatani, Yoshifumi*

Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 507(2), p.022042_1 - 022042_4, 2014/05

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/507/2/022042

An experimental system has been developed to investigate electro-magnetic properties of high-Tc superconductors cooled by liquid hydrogen under the external magnetic field of up to 7 T. A LH cryostat with a LH inventory of 61 L is concentrically mounted on the inside of a LHe cryostat to cool a NbTi superconducting magnet. The experimental system is installed in an explosion-proof room and explosion proof electrical devices are used. The current leads are covered with an enclosure filled with nitrogen gas. A remote control system has been developed to maintain safety distance. Furthermore, the effects of stray magnetic field on the existing and the new devices are investigated and electro-magnetic shielding panels and enclosure made of iron were designed using ANSYS analysis. It is confirmed through the cryogenic test that the experimental system meets the design requirements.

Operational characteristics of the J-PARC cryogenic hydrogen system for a spallation neutron source

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Otsu, Kiichi; Aso, Tomokazu; Kawakami, Yoshihiko; Teshigawara, Makoto

AIP Conference Proceedings 1573, p.66 - 73, 2014/01

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4860684

The J-PARC cryogenic hydrogen system provides supercritical hydrogen provides to three moderators. A heater for the thermal compensation and a cryogenic accumulator are prepared to mitigate a pressure fluctuation. A feed temperature should be lower than 20 K and its fluctuation should be within 0.25 K to provide cold pulsed neutron beams of a higher neutronic performance. An ortho-para hydrogen convertor is installed to maintain the para-hydrogen concentration of more than 99.0%. In this study, it is confirmed that para-hydrogen always exists in the equilibrium concentration during the cool-down process. Propagation characteristics of temperature fluctuation caused by sudden heater power variations were studied. An allowable temperature fluctuation caused by the heater control approach is determined to be 1.05 K. It is found that the heater control would be applicable for the 1-MW proton beam operation by extrapolating from the experimental data for on-beam commissioning.

Effect of a heated pipe length on DNB heat flux in forced flow of liquid hydrogen

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuyuki*; Shiotsu, Masahiro*; Hata, Koichi*; Naruo, Yoshihiro*; Kobayashi, Hiroaki*; Inatani, Yoshifumi*; Narita, Norihiko*

Proceedings of 24th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference (ICEC 24) and International Cryogenic Materials Conference 2012 (ICMC 2012) (CD-ROM), p.157 - 160, 2012/05

The heat transfer in a forced flow of saturated liquid hydrogen was measured using vertically-mounted heated pipes with an inner diameter d of 6.0 mm and lengths L of 50, 100, 200 and 250 mm for wide ranges of flow velocity and pressure. The heat fluxes at departure from nucleate boiling were higher for higher flow velocities, lower pressures and shorter L. The effect of L on the DNB heat flux was clarified and could be described by the modified authors' DNB correlation.

Influence of Great East Japan Earthquake on neutron target station in J-PARC

Sakai, Kenji; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Takada, Hiroshi; Sakamoto, Shinichi; Maekawa, Fujio; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Seki, Masakazu; Haga, Katsuhiro; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Wakui, Takashi; et al.

Proceedings of 20th Meeting of the International Collaboration on Advanced Neutron Sources (ICANS-20) (USB Flash Drive), 6 Pages, 2012/03

This report investigates behaviors and damages of each component in a neutron target station of the MLF at the J-PARC at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). At the date of the GEJE, in the MLF, strong quakes were detected at several instruments, an external power supply were lost, all of the circulation systems were shut down automatically, and a hydrogen gas was released as planned. Leakage of activation liquids and gases did not occur. While, the quakes made gaps between shield blocks and ruptured external pipe lines for air and water by subsidence. But significant damages on the components of the target station were not found though a loss of compressed air supply affected lock systems with air cylinders and pneumatic operation values. These results substantiated a validity of safety design on the target station for emergency accidents.

Forced convection heat transfer of subcooled liquid nitrogen in a vertical tube

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuyuki*; Hata, Koichi*; Kato, Takashi; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Shiotsu, Masahiro*

Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 234, p.032057_1 - 032057_8, 2010/07

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/234/3/032057

Experimental research on forced convection heat transfer of subcooled liquid nitrogen ranging from the pressures of 0.3 MPa to its supercritical pressure is carried out for wide ranges of inlet temperature and flow velocity. The heat transfer coefficients in non-boiling region and the DNB heat fluxes are higher for higher flow velocity and higher subcooling. The heat transfer coefficients in the non-boiling region agree well with those by the Dittus-Boelter correlation, although they are unaffected by the flow velocity for 8000. The lowest limits agree with those obtained for no forced flow. The correlation of DNB heat flux that can describe the experimental data is presented. The heat transfer characteristics of supercritical nitrogen can be predicted by authors'correlation.

Forced convection heat transfer of subcooled liquid hydrogen in a small tube

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuyuki*; Shiotsu, Masahiro*; Hata, Koichi*; Kobayashi, Hiroaki*; Naruo, Yoshihiro*; Inatani, Yoshifumi*; Kato, Takashi; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Kinoshita, Katsuhiro*

Proceedings of International Cryogenic Engineering Conference 23 (ICEC-23) and International Cryogenic Materials Conference 2010 (ICMC 2010), p.491 - 496, 2010/07

Forced flow heat transfers of liquid hydrogen through a vertical tube with the diameter, d, of 3.0 mm were measured at the pressure of 0.7 MPa for various inlet temperatures and flow velocities. The non-boiling heat transfer coefficients agreed with those by the Dittus-Boelter correlation. The heat fluxes at the inception of boiling and the departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) heat fluxes were higher for higher flow velocity and subcooling. The DNB heat fluxes were higher for larger diameter, compared with those for = 6.0 mm. The effect of tube diameter and subcooling on the DNB heat flux was clarified.

Performance test of a centrifugal supercritical hydrogen pump

Tatsumoto, Hideki; Aso, Tomokazu; Otsu, Kiichi; Uehara, Toshiaki; Sakurayama, Hisashi; Kawakami, Yoshihiko; Kato, Takashi; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Yoshinaga, Seiichiro*

Proceedings of International Cryogenic Engineering Conference 23 (ICEC-23) and International Cryogenic Materials Conference 2010 (ICMC 2010), p.377 - 382, 2010/07

A dynamic gas bearing centrifugal pump that circulated supercritical hydrogen with a large flow rate of more than 0.16 kg/s was developed to minimize the hydrogen density change at the moderator. The two pumps were simultaneously operated in parallel for redundancy. The performance test results indicated that the dimensionless characteristics for the single and the parallel operations existed on an identical curve. An outstanding peak adiabatic efficiency exited at the flow coefficient of 0.046, independently of the revolution. It was verified that the developed hydrogen pump satisfied the design requirement.