Impact of Internal Baffle Designs on Liquid Hydrogen Sloshing in Cryogenic Aircraft Fuel Tanks

Abstract

Abstract Hydrogen because of its zero carbon emissions and highly energy-dense nature has a strong potential to be used as an aviation fuel. There are currently two main ways that hydrogen is being considered for use in aircraft: it can be vaporized and mixed with air before being burned in the jet engine, or it can be used to power fuel cells that generate electricity, which can be used to power electric motors. Both these scenarios would require storing liquid hydrogen (LH2) in cryogenic tanks on board as it minimizes the tank size. But a major challenge with cryogenic hydrogen storage is the dynamic movement of the fuel which can lead to fuel boil off and bubble formation. In the current paper, the sloshing motion of LH2 in a CHEETA type thin-walled composite fuel tank, under acceleration data obtained from an Airbus A-320 in cruising conditions, is investigated. The dynamic fluid structure interaction problem is solved numerically using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) technique in ABAQUS. The developed modelling strategy is then employed to study the impact of various internal baffle designs on the sloshing behavior of the fuel under different fill levels. This study not only establishes that sloshing is a major cause for concern when it comes to LH2 aircraft fuel storage, but also advances our understanding in devising potential mitigative strategies.