Cryogenic Flow Physics to Advance Liquid Hydrogen-Based Aviation

低温流动物理学推动液氢航空发展

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-02450
• 负责人: Brinkerhoff, Joshua
• 金额: $ 2.84万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=761751
• 关键词: Cryogenic; Flow; Physics; Advance; Liquid

Commercial aviation emits more than 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year into the atmosphere, accounting for 3% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions. If it were a country, commercial aviation would rank just ahead of Germany as the sixth largest emitter of CO2. Aviation must urgently decarbonize to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Over 70% of emissions come from medium-range flights (2000-4000 km) for which battery electrification remains infeasible for the foreseeable future. Hydrogen presents an alternative route for decarbonizing aviation-it has a large energy density by mass; it can be generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar; it can be combusted in aircraft engines with few modifications; and it can generate electricity directly via a fuel cell. However, hydrogen's low volumetric energy density means that it must be stored as a pressurized gas or cryogenic (ultra-cold) liquid. Per unit energy, liquid hydrogen requires about half the volume, making it most suitable for aviation. Adopting liquid hydrogen as a low-carbon aviation fuel will require significant re-engineering of aviation technologies, mainly due to the complexity associated with its cryogenic state. The interactions of cryogenic conditions with flow turbulence, phase transition, thermal non-equilibrium, geometrical complexities, and interfacial effects are poorly understood, despite the major impacts these processes have on the fuel storage conditions, fuel system layout, and ultimately the aircraft safety and efficiency. Without an in-depth physical understanding of cryogenic flows, liquid hydrogen-based aviation cannot advance. My research program will advance the liquid hydrogen pathway for decarbonising the aviation sector through three parallel activities. First, we will generate new computational fluid dynamics approaches that will be specifically tailored for accurate and robust simulation of cryogenic flow physics, building especially on the strengths of non-continuum approaches such as the lattice Boltzmann method. Second, we will use the developed tools to address fundamental questions that remain unanswered regarding the cryogenic behaviour of liquid hydrogen. Finally, using the insights produced by such investigations, we will develop simple yet physically-realistic models to predict the thermohydraulic behaviour of liquid hydrogen for use in engineering design. My research program will directly impact the aviation industry, enabling innovations in low-carbon aviation systems and supporting the aspirational hydrogen pathway for decarbonizing the aviation sector. It will also promote the development of hydrogen-based technologies in other hard-to-decarbonize sectors, including heavy-duty trucking, rail, and marine transportation. Therefore, the proposed program will support economic and energy diversification efforts within Canada while simultaneously helping Canada reach its urgent environmental and climate goals.

商业航空每年将超过9亿吨二氧化碳（CO2）排入大气中，占人为CO2总排放量的3％。如果是一个国家，商业航空将排在德国作为二氧化碳的第六大发射极。航空必须紧急脱碳，以避免灾难性的气候影响。超过70％的排放来自中距离航班（2000-4000公里），在可预见的将来，电池电气化仍然是不可行的。氢为脱碳航空提供了另一种途径 - 质量的能量密度很大。它可以从可再生能源（例如风能和太阳能）产生。它可以在飞机发动机中燃烧，很少进行修改。它可以直接通过燃料电池发电。但是，氢的低容量能量密度意味着必须将其存储为加压气体或低温（超冷）液体。每单位能量，液体氢需要大约一半的体积，使其最适合航空。采用液体氢作为低碳航空燃料将需要对航空技术进行大量重新设计，这主要是由于与其低温状态相关的复杂性。低温条件与流动湍流，相变，热非平衡，几何复杂性和界面效应的相互作用尚不清楚，尽管这些过程对燃油存储条件，燃油系统布局产生了重大影响，并最终是飞机安全和飞机安全和飞机安全的影响。效率。没有对低温流的深入物理理解，基于液体氢的航空就无法发展。我的研究计划将通过三个平行活动推进液态氢途径，以使航空部门脱碳。首先，我们将生成新的计算流体动力学方法，这些方法将专门针对低温流体物理学的准确且可靠的模拟进行量身定制，尤其是基于非continuum方法的强度，例如lattice boltzmann方法。其次，我们将使用开发的工具来解决有关液体氢的低温行为尚未得到答复的基本问题。最后，使用此类研究产生的见解，我们将开发简单但具有物理现实的模型，以预测液体氢在工程设计中的热含量行为。我的研究计划将直接影响航空业，从而在低碳航空系统中进行创新，并支持脱碳水化行业的理想氢途径。它还将促进其他难以挑选的领域的基于氢的技术的发展，包括重型卡车运输，铁路和海洋运输。因此，拟议的计划将支持加拿大境内的经济和能源多元化工作，同时帮助加拿大实现其紧急的环境和气候目标。