Experimental Investigation and CFD Simulation of Cryogenic Condenser

Abstract

In this research, experimental investigation and the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a cryogenic condenser for oxygen liquefaction was carried out. The liquid nitrogen was used as a cooling fluid. In the simulation section, a three-dimensional model with a structured mesh with high mesh quality for aspect ratio and skewness was considered. The multi-phase flow inside the condenser was studied numerically, using the volume of fluid (VOF) method. This work also examined the assessment of the vapor generation rate during the condensation of oxygen, based on the boiling heat transfer mechanism and the unique physical characteristics. The experiment was conducted to examine the simulation results. The effect of liquid nitrogen height on the oxygen mass flows was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The average deviation of the CFD predictions from the available experimental oxygen mass flows was 17%.