Cryogenic Pump Body Cooling With Helical Fluid Path Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cryogenic fluids cause heating and thermal gradients in pumps, leading to efficiency reduction, leaks, and safety risks such as fire or explosion, particularly in conventional pumps designed for these fluids.
Innovation Solution
A pump design featuring a helicoidal groove fluidic pipe on the pump body for enhanced thermal exchange, multiple intake manifolds, a piston with concentrically arranged disks and annular seals, and thermal insulation using insulating materials and disks to manage temperature gradients and prevent leaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the piston moves in the pump body to pump cryogenic fluid, then the fluid is conveyed from one tank to another, but heating of the pump body and piston occurs reducing efficiency and generating leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The pump body is divided into distinct thermal zones: a first portion in direct contact with cryogenic fluid that remains cold, and a second portion isolated by insulation that remains at ambient temperature. This segmentation allows the pumping mechanism to operate efficiently while preventing harmful thermal gradients and heating of the pump body.
Solution Approach 2:
A layer of insulating material is introduced as an intermediary between the first portion (in contact with cryogenic fluid) and the second portion (ambient temperature) of the pump body. This intermediary thermal barrier prevents heat transfer, eliminating the heating problem while allowing the piston to continue its pumping function.
2Ease of operation
If the piston moves in the pump body, then fluid intake and ejection are enabled, but excessive thermal gradient is generated causing structural embrittlement and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The pump body is segmented into thermally isolated zones with insulation material preventing excessive thermal gradients. This allows the piston to perform its intake and ejection functions while the structural integrity of pump parts is maintained by eliminating harmful temperature differentials that would cause embrittlement.
Solution Approach 2:
Insulating material acts as a thermal intermediary that blocks excessive heat transfer between the cold fluid-contact zone and the ambient zone. This protects the structural integrity of pump components by preventing thermal embrittlement while allowing normal piston operation for fluid intake and ejection.
3Temperature
If cryogenic fluid circulates in the pump, then the pump body tends to cool and parts may retract, but piston movement generates heating that can cause fire or explosion risks
Solution Approach 1:
The pump body is divided into a first portion that remains cool from cryogenic fluid contact and a second portion insulated at ambient temperature. This segmentation prevents the harmful heating that would create fire or explosion risks while allowing the beneficial cooling effect on the fluid-contact portion.
Solution Approach 2:
Insulating material serves as a thermal intermediary that prevents heat generated by piston movement from propagating to the cryogenic fluid. This eliminates fire and explosion risks by blocking the thermal pathway while allowing the pump body to maintain its cooling function on the fluid-contact portion.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively cools the pump body, maintains structural integrity, reduces leaks, and ensures safe operation by minimizing temperature variations and preventing combustion risks.
Implementation Method 1
the fluidic pipe makes it possible to cool the pump body which can tend to heat with the movement and friction of the piston in the pump body. The circulation of the fluid in the fluidic pipe from the first opening to the second opening enables the fluid, which is then cooler since it is from the fluidic reserve, to cool the pump body by flowing along the pump body
Implementation Method 2
the fluidic pipe being embodied by a helicoidal groove formed on the outer wall of the pump body, the fluidic pipe then being delimited by the helicoidal groove of the pump body, on one hand, and by the liner, on the other. Creating the fluidic pipe in the form of a helicoidal groove hollowed in the outer wall of the pump body enables a better thermal exchange between the pump body and the fluid circulating in the fluidic pipe
Data Source
AI summary
A pump for fluid to be pumped from a fluidic reserve. The pump includes a pump body having: a first end from which extends at least one intake manifold opening into a fluidic chamber to enable a fluid intake; a second end opposite the first end; and at least one fluidic pipe extending spirally about the pump body between the first end and the second end. The fluidic pipe has a first opening for connecting to the fluidic reserve, located at the second end of the pump body, and a second opening connected to the intake manifold.