Method and device for cooling a consumer and system with corresponding device and consumers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooling systems for high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) power supply lines face challenges in maintaining high availability and efficiency, particularly due to space constraints and the need for redundant cooling devices, which increase investment costs and can lead to cooling capacity failures if a single device fails.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a circulating nitrogen flow through a system with multiple cooling passages and a dual-mode operation, where one cooling mode uses a closed cooling device and the other relies on pressure reduction to maintain cooling capacity without full redundancy, allowing for reduced installation space and increased availability by using a reservoir to compensate for nitrogen losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple redundant closed cooling units are used to ensure high availability, then reliability is improved, but investment costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
A reservoir is integrated into the cooling system to store liquid nitrogen in advance. This reservoir acts as a cushion that compensates for nitrogen losses during pressure reduction operations, eliminating the need for multiple redundant cooling units while maintaining high availability throughout the system's operational lifetime
2Temperature
If liquid nitrogen is cooled at two different ends of the cooling section, then cooling capacity is improved, but space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir is merged with the cooling system at one end (the first end), consolidating the nitrogen storage and pressure reduction functions in a single location. This eliminates the need for separate cooling equipment at both ends, reducing overall space requirements while maintaining the ability to cool the HTSL cable along its entire length
3Use of energy by moving object
If pressure reduction is used to subcool nitrogen, then cooling efficiency is improved, but nitrogen losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir recovers and stores liquid nitrogen that would otherwise be lost during pressure reduction operations. By capturing and reusing this nitrogen, the system maintains high cooling efficiency through pressure reduction while minimizing substance losses, as the reservoir continuously replenishes the nitrogen supply
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 system ensures continuous cooling capacity even if a closed cooling device fails, reducing the need for redundant devices and minimizing nitrogen and cold losses, thereby enhancing the overall availability and efficiency of the cooling system.
Implementation Method 1
the circulating flow is successively subjected to an initial cooling, fed to a cooling section at a first end, transported from the first end to a second end along the cooling section, extracted from the cooling section at the second end, subjected to a second cooling, fed to the cooling section at the second end, transported from the second end to the first end along the cooling section and extracted from the cooling section at the first end
Implementation Method 2
a cooling medium is supplied from a first storage container to an object to be cooled via a first cooling medium line, brought into thermal contact with it
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for cooling a consumer (1) via a cooling section extending between a first end and a second end is proposed, wherein the method is carried out in a first process mode in at least a first period and in a second, different period in a second process mode.In the first and second process modes, liquid nitrogen is used in the form of a recirculating stream (2), which is subcooled using a first subcooled nitrogen bath and a second subcooled nitrogen bath. In the first process mode, the first nitrogen bath is at least partially subcooled by means of a closed cooling device (11), and in both the first and second process modes, the second nitrogen bath is at least partially subcooled by pressure reduction to a sub-atmospheric pressure level. Any amount of nitrogen evaporating from the second nitrogen bath due to the pressure reduction to the sub-atmospheric pressure level is at least partially compensated for from a reservoir (8). In the second process mode, if the closed cooling device (11) is not operated or is operated only at reduced capacity, additional liquid nitrogen is withdrawn from the reservoir (8), subcooled, and fed to the first subcooled nitrogen bath.Furthermore, gaseous nitrogen is then pumped from the first nitrogen bath by means of a pump (19) under pressure reduction to a sub-atmospheric pressure level. A corresponding device and a system (100, 200) consisting of such a device and a corresponding consumer (1) are also part of the present invention.