Cryocar Seminar

ABSTRACT
Cryogens are effective thermal storage media which, when used for
automotive purposes, offer significant advantages over current and proposed
electrochemical battery technologies, both in performance and economy. An
automotive propulsion concept is presented which utilizes liquid nitrogen as the
working fluid for an open Rankine cycle. The principle of operation is like that of
a steam engine, ecept there is no combustion involved. !iquid nitrogen is
pressurized and then vaporized in a heat echanger by the ambient temperature of
the surrounding air. The resulting high " pressure nitrogen gas is fed to the engine
converting pressure into mechanical power. The only ehaust is nitrogen.
The usage of cryogenic fuels has significant advantage over other fuel.
Also, factors such as production and storage of nitrogen and pollutants in the
ehaust give advantage for the cryogenic fuels.
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CONTENTS
Chapters Page No
#.$ %&TR'()CT%'& #
*.$ +%,T'R- *
..$ !&*$$$/, !%0)%( &%TR'12& 3R'3)!,%'& C-C!2 4
..# 3ART, '5 A !%0)%( &%TR'12& 3R'3)!,%'& C-C!2 6
..#.# Cryogen ,torage 7essel. 6
..#.* 3ump. 8
..#.. 2conomizer. 8
..#.4 2pander 2ngine. 8
..#.6 +eat echanger. 9
4.$ 3':2R C-C!2 #$
6.$ 32R5'R;A&C2 '5 T+2 '32& RA&<%&2 C-C!2 #*
8.$ !%0)%( &%TR'12& ;A&)5ACT)R2 #.
9.$ T+2R;A! ,T'RA12 2552CT%72&2,, #4
=.$ A(7A&TA12, #6
=.# As compared to fossil fuels #6
=.* Comparing 2nergy (ensities #8
>.$ T2C+&%CA! %,,)2, #9
>.# Range 2tension and 3ower ?oosting #9
#$.$ C'&C!),%'& #=

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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The importance of cars in the present world is increasing day by day. There
are various factors that influence the choice of the car. These include performance,
fuel, pollution etc. As the prices for fuels are increasing and the availability is
decreasing we have to go for alternative choice.
+ere an automotive propulsion concept is presented which utilizes liquid
nitrogen as the working fluid for an open Rankine cycle. :hen the only heat input
to the engine is supplied by ambient heat echangers, an automobile can readily be
propelled while satisfying stringent tailpipe emission standards. &itrogen
propulsive systems can provide automotive ranges of nearly 4$$ kilometers in the
zero emission mode, with lower operating costs than those of the electric vehicles
currently being considered for mass production. %n geographical regions that allow
ultra low emission vehicles, the range and performance of the liquid nitrogen
automobile can be significantly etended by the addition of a small efficient
burner. ,ome of the advantages of a transportation infrastructure based on liquid
nitrogen are that recharging the energy storage system only requires minutes and
there are minimal environmental hazards associated with the manufacture and
utilization of the cryogenic @fuel@. The basic idea of nitrogen propulsion system is
to utilize the atmosphere as the heat source. This is in contrast to the typical heat
engine where the atmosphere is used as the heat sink.
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Chapter 2
HISTORY
Researchers at the University of Washington are developing a new zero-
emission automobile propulsion concept that uses liquid nitrogen as the fuel. The
principle of operation is like that of a steam engine, ecept there is no combustion
involved. %nstead, liquid nitrogen at ".*$A 5 B"#>8A CC is pressurized and then
vaporized in a heat echanger by the ambient temperature of the surrounding air.
This heat echanger is like the radiator of a car but instead of using air to cool
water, it uses air to heat and boil liquid nitrogen. The resulting highDpressure
nitrogen gas is fed to an engine that operates like a reciprocating steam engine,
converting pressure to mechanical power. The only ehaust is nitrogen, which is
the maEor constituent of our atmosphere.
The !&
*
$$$ is an operating proofDofDconcept test vehicle, a converted #>=4
1rummanD'lson <ubvan mail delivery van. Applying !&
*
as a portable thermal
storage medium to propel both commuter and fleet vehicles appears to be an
attractive means to meeting the F27 regulations soon to be implemented.
3ressurizing the working fluid while it is at cryogenic temperatures, heating it up
with ambient air, and epanding it in reciprocating engines is a straightforward
approach for powering pollution free vehicles. Ambient heat echangers that will
not suffer etreme icing will have to be developed to enable wide utility of this
propulsion system. ,ince the epansion engine operates at subDambient
temperatures, the potential for attaining quasiDisothermal operation appears
promising. The engine, a radial fiveDcylinder #6Dhp air motor, drives the front
wheels through a fiveDspeed manual 7olkswagen transmission. The liquid nitrogen
is stored in a thermosDlike stainless steel tank. At present the tank is pressurized
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with gaseous nitrogen to develop system pressure but a cryogenic liquid pump will
be used for this purpose in the future. A preheater, called an economizer, uses
leftover heat in the engine/s ehaust to preheat the liquid nitrogen before it enters
the heat echanger. The specific energy densities of !&
*
are 64 and =9 :DhGkgD
!&
*
for the adiabatic and isothermal epansion processes, respectively, and the
corresponding amounts of cryogen to provide a .$$ km driving range would be
46$ kg and *=$ kg. ;any details of the application of !&
*
thermal storage to
ground transportation remain to be investigatedH however, to date no fundamental
technological hurdles have yet been discovered that might stand in the way of
fully realizing the potential offered by this revolutionary propulsion concept.
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Chapter 3
LN2000'S LIUID NITRO!EN PROPULSION CYCLE
"#g$re 1% LN2000 &#'$#( )#troge) prop$&s#o) *+*&e,

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..# 3ART, '5 A !%0)%( &%TR'12& 3R'3)!,%'& C-C!2
The main parts of a liquid nitrogen propulsion system areI
#. Cryogen ,torage 7essel.
*. 3ump.
.. 2conomizer.
4. 2pander 2ngine.
6. +eat echanger.
The parts and their functions are discussed in detail belowI
3,1,1 Cr+oge) Storage -esse&%
The primary design constraints for automobile cryogen storage vessels areI
resistance to deceleration forces in the horizontal plane in the event of a traffic
accident, low boilDoff rate, minimum size and mass, and reasonable cost. CrashD
worthy cryogen vessels are being developed for hydrogenDfueled vehicles that will
prevent loss of insulating vacuum at closing speeds of over #$$ kmGh.#=
;oderately high vacuum B#$D4 torrC with super insulation can provide boilDoff
rates as low as #J per day in *$$ liter B6. galC containers. )sing appropriate
titanium or aluminum alloys for the inner and outer vessels, a structurally
reinforced dewar could readily have a sevenDday holding period. The cost of a
mass produced, *$$ liter automotive tank for liquid hydrogen containment has
been estimated to be between K*$$ and K4$$ Bin #>9$ dollarsC. Thus the epense
of a 4$$ liter !&
*
tank Bor two *$$ liter tanksC is epected to be reasonable.
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3,1,2 P$.p%
The pump is used to pump the liquid nitrogen into the engine. The pump
which are used for this purpose have an operating pressure ranging between 6$$ "
8$$ 3si. As the pump, pumps liquid instead of gas, it is noticed that the efficiency
is high.
3,1,3 E*o)o.#/er%
A preheater, called an economizer, uses leftover heat in the engine/s ehaust
to preheat the liquid nitrogen before it enters the heat echanger. +ence the
economizer acts as a heat echanger between the incoming liquid nitrogen and the
ehaust gas which is left out. This is similar to the preheating process which is
done in compressors. +ence with the use of the economizer, the efficiency can be
improved. The design of this heat echanger is such as to prevent frost formation
on its outer surfaces.
3,1,0 E1pa)(er%
The maimum work output of the !&
*
engine results from an isothermal
epansion stroke. Achieving isothermal epansion will be a challenge, because the
amount of heat addition required during the epansion process is nearly that
required to superheat the pressurized !&
*
prior to inEection. Thus, engines having
epansion chambers with high surfaceDtoDvolume ratios are favored for this
application. Rotary epanders such as the :ankel may also be well suited. A
secondary fluid could be circulated through the engine block to help keep the
cylinder walls as warm as possible. ;ultiple epansions and reheats can also be
used although they require more complicated machinery.
7ehicle power and torque demands would be satisfied by both throttling the
mass flow of !&
*
and by controlling the cutDoff point of &
*
inEection, which is
similar to how classical reciprocating steam engines are regulated. The maimum
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power output of the propulsion engine is limited by the maimum rate at which
heat can be absorbed from the atmosphere. The required control system to
accommodate the desired vehicle performance can be effectively implemented
with either manual controls or an onDboard computer. The transient responses of
the !&
*
power plant and the corresponding operating procedures are topics to be
investigated.
3,1,2 Heat E1*ha)ger%
The primary heat echanger is a critical component of a !&
*
automobile.
,ince ambient vaporizers are widely utilized in the cryogenics and !&1
industries, there eists a substantial technology base. )nfortunately, portable
cryogen vaporizers suitable for this new application are not readily available at
this time. To insure cryomobile operation over a wide range of weather conditions,
the vaporizer should be capable of heating the !&
*
at its maimum flow rate to
near the ambient temperature on a cold winter day. ,ince reasonable performance
for personal transportation vehicles can be obtained with a .$ k: motor, the heat
echanger will be sized accordingly. 5or an isothermal epansion engine having
an inEection pressure of 4 ;3a, the heat absorbed from the atmosphere can, in
principle, be converted to useful mechanical power with about 4$J efficiency.
Thus the heat echanger system should be prudently designed to absorb at least
96 k: from the atmosphere when its temperature is only $AC.
To estimate the mass and volume of the primary heat echanger, it was
modeled as an array of individually fed tube elements that pass the !&
*
at its peak
flow rate without ecessive pressure drop. 2ach element is a #$ m long section of
aluminum tubing having an outside diameter of #$ mm and a wall thickness of
# mm. They are wrapped back and forth to fit within a packaging volume having
$.6 m $.4 m $.$4 m dimensions and are arrayed in the heat echanger duct.
%ncoming air will pass through a debris deflector and particulate filter before
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encountering the elements. An electric fan will draw the air through the duct when
the automobile is operating at low velocities or when above normal power outputs
are required.
The tube eterior heat transfer coefficient is based on that for a cylinder in
cross flow and the internal heat transfer is for fully developed turbulent flow. The
bulk temperature of the air is assumed to decrease across each tube row as
determined from energy conservation and the pressure drop is determined for the
whole tube bank. The heat transfer calculations also account for &
*
pressure drop
and variations in its thermodynamic properties in the tube elements. ,ome of the
important phenomena not considered at this stage of analysis were the effects of
transient !&
*
flow rates, start up, frost accumulation, tube fins, and aial thermal
conduction.
The formation of rime ice is highly probable. The atmospheric moisture
will be removed relatively quickly as the ambient air is chilled over the first few
tube rows, leaving etremely dry air to warm up the coldest parts at the rear of the
heat echanger where the !&
*
enters. ,urface coatings such as Teflon can be used
to inhibit ice build up and active measures for vibrating the tube elements may
also be applied. +owever, these approaches may not be necessary since high !&
*
flow rates are only needed during times of peak power demand and the heat
echanger elements are much longer than necessary to elevate the !&
*
temperature
to near ambient at the lower flow rates required for cruise. Thus, the frosted tube
rows may have ample opportunity to deDice once the vehicle comes up to speed.
2ven though inclement weather will certainly degrade the performance of
the cryomobile, it will not preclude effective operation. %f the propulsion system
operating conditions were such that the !&
*
could only be heated to *6$ < prior to
inEection, the flow rates of !&
*
for the isothermal and adiabatic cycles to generate
.$ k: would be ##6 gmGsec and #=9 gmGsec, respectively. The previously
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described heat echanger configuration can theoretically heat the higher !&
*
flow
rate to *6$ < with *6 radiator elements when the vehicle is traveling at *6 kmGsec
B#8 miGhC and the ambient air temperature is only $AC. The !&
*
viscous pressure
drop would be about $.$6 ;3a, which is easily compensated for with the cryogen
pump. The electric fan would require approimately #.6 k: to accelerate the air
and overcome the 4$$ 3a pressure drop through the heat echanger if the vehicle
were standing still. ,ince each element is $.98 kg, the total tubing mass would be
#> kg. %f the same mass was added by the manifolds and duct then the net mass of
the heat echanger would be less than 4$ kg. :hen operating on a typical
California day, it is epected that this overDdesigned cryogen vaporizer will readily
heat the !&
*
up to ambient temperature without any appreciable icing.
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Chapter 0
PO3ER CYCLE
There are many thermodynamic cycles available for utilizing the thermal
potential of liquid nitrogen. These range from the ?rayton cycle, to using twoD and
even threeDfluid topping cycles, to employing a hydrocarbonDfueled boiler for
superheating beyond atmospheric temperatures. The easiest to implement,
however, and the one chosen for this study, is shown below. This system uses an
open Rankine cycle. The temperature " entropy diagram for the open rankine cycle
is described below.
"#g$re 2% Te.perat$re 4 e)trop+ (#agra. 5or the ope) Ra)6#)e *+*&e,
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,tate # is the cryogenic liquid in storage at $.# ;3a and 99 <. The liquid is
pumped up to system pressure of 4 ;3a BsupercriticalC at state * and then enters
the economizer. ,tate . indicates &
*
properties after it is being preheated by the
ehaust gas. 5urther heat echange with ambient air brings the &
*
to .$$ < at
state 4, ready for epansion. %sothermal epansion to $.## ;3a at state 6 would
result in the &
*
ehaust having enough enthalpy to heat the !&
*
to above its
critical temperature in the economizer, whereas adiabatic epansion to state 8
would not leave sufficient enthalpy to Eustify its use. The specific work output
would be .*$ and *$$ kLGkgD!&
*
for these isothermal and adiabatic cycles,
respectively, without considering pump work. :hile these power cycles do not
make best use of the thermodynamic potential of the !&
*
, they do provide specific
energies competitive with those of leadDacid batteries.
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Chapter 2
Per5or.a)*e o5 the ope) Ra)6#)e *+*&e
The thermodynamic and economic performances of the adiabatic and
isothermal modes of the open Rankine cycle are shown in Table #. These figures
are based on the specifications of a modified +onda CRM for which performance
data were available. The cost of *.8N per kgD!&
*
was derived assuming only the
energy cost of production.
3rocess
Adiabatic %sothermal
3ump :orkI
8 kLGkgD!&* 8 kLGkgD!&*
&et :ork 'utI
#>4 kLGkgD!&* .#4 kLGkgD!&*
+eat %nputI
4#> kLGkgD!&* 96$ kLGkgD!&*
2nergy (ensityI
64 :DhGkgD!&* =9 :DhGkgD!&*
!&* 5low RateI
#.6 kgGkm $.>. kgGkm
'perating CostI
..> Gkm *.4 Gkm
O ?ased on 9.= k: for highway cruise at >9 kmGh.
P ?ased on *.8N per kgD!&* production cost.
Ta7&e1% Per5or.a)*e o5 the ope) Ra)6#)e *+*&e,
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Chapter 8
LIUID NITRO!EN 9ANU"ACTURE
The cost of the !&
*
@fuel@ is epected to be reasonable. The primary
epense for producing !&
*
is the energy cost for compression of air. Cryogenic
separation of nitrogen from other condensables in air typically requires only a very
small fraction of the total energy, so the ideal work to manufacture !&
*
from air is
very nearly that for using nitrogen as a feedstock. This work is eactly the
reversible work obtainable from an ideal cryoDengine, 98> kLGkg. The actual work
required in a modern !&
*
plant is *.$D*.6 times the minimum, or #64$D#>*$ kLGkg.
Assuming an industrial electric rate for interruptible power of 6NGk:Dh, the energy
cost would amount to *.8NGkgD!&
*
, in accord with delivery prices of !&
*
in large
quantities. ;arketing the other commercially important components of air will
help offset the !&
*
production costs. ,ince the equipment needed for air
liquefaction can be powered solely by electricity, it is conceivable to decentralize
the @fuel@ manufacturing process and to place small scale production facilities at
the !&
*
dispensing sites. A costDbenefit analysis is needed to determine the
smallest air liquefaction machinery that can be used to produce !&
*
in an
economical manner.
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Chapter :
THER9AL STORA!E E""ECTI-ENESS%
?ecause the design and epense of the cryomobile are driven primarily by
the cryogen heat sink, it is useful to characterize performance by a @sink
efficiency@, Q W/Ql, i.e. the inverse of the coefficient of performance for a
refrigerator. 5or a reversible cycle with fied sink and source temperatures the
ideal sink efficiency is = Th/Tl 1, or 2.9 for Tl = 77 K and Th = 300 K. %f only
the enthalpy of evaporation of !&
*
Bhfg Q #>> kLGkgC is used to sink such an
engine, the ideal work output is 698 kLGkg of !&
*
. This specific energy is
significantly higher than the #=$D.$$ kLGkg achieved with leadDacid batteries.
Additional potential remains for heat sinking by the cold &
*
vapor, and the
ideal work recoverable from an epansion engine as !&
*
is evaporated at 99 <,
then brought up to ambient temperature BTo Q .$$ <C, is given by the difference in
thermodynamic availability, = h sTo, between liquid and ambient states. This
@reversible work@ for !&
*
is Wr Q 98> kLGkgD&
*
and the corresponding sink
efficiency is Q #.9=. Thus, only a small fraction of the reversible work needs to
be recovered to provide the cryomobile with a driving range commensurate with
that of batteryDpowered vehicles of comparable weight. The relative merits of
different F27 technologies must also be evaluated on considerations other than
performance such as environmental friendliness and commuting utility. :hile the
specific energy of !&
*
or batteries is far below that of hydrocarbon fuels, the
internal combustion engine cars cannot operate without polluting emissions and
thus should not be compared with F27s.
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Chapter ;
AD-ANTA!ES
,tudies indicate that liquid nitrogen automobiles will have significant
performance and environmental advantages over electric vehicles. A liquid
nitrogen car with a 8$Dgallon tank will have a potential range of up to *$$ miles,
or more than twice that of a typical electric car. 5urthermore, a liquid nitrogen car
will be much lighter and refilling its tank will take only #$D#6 minutes, rather than
the several hours required by most electric car concepts. ;otorists will fuel up at
filling stations very similar to today/s gasoline stations. :hen liquid nitrogen is
manufactured in large quantities, the operating cost per mile of a liquid nitrogen
car will not only be less than that of an electric car but will actually be competitive
with that of a gasoline car.
;,1, As *o.pare( to 5oss#& 5$e&s%
The process to manufacture liquid nitrogen in large quantities can be
environmentally very friendly, even if fossil fuels are used to generate the electric
power required. The ehaust gases produced by burning fossil fuels in a power
plant contain not only carbon dioide and gaseous pollutants, but also all the
nitrogen from the air used in the combustion. ?y feeding these ehaust gases to
the nitrogen liquefaction plant, the carbon dioide and other undesirable products
of combustion can be condensed and separated in the process of chilling the
nitrogen, and thus no pollutants need be released to the atmosphere by the power
plant. The sequestered carbon dioide and pollutants could be inEected into
depleted gas and oil wells, deep mine shafts, deep ocean subduction zones, and
other repositories from which they will not diffuse back into the atmosphere, or
they could be chemically processed into useful or inert substances. Consequently,
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the implementation of a large fleet of liquid nitrogen vehicles could have much
greater environmental benefits than Eust reducing urban air pollution as desired by
current zeroDemission vehicle mandates.
;,2, Co.par#)g E)erg+ De)s#t#es%
"#g$re 3% Spe*#5#* e)erg+ 5or <ar#o$s e)erg+ storage .e(#a,
The above figure shows how a liquid nitrogen based propulsion cycle fares
against the various electrochemical storage media mentioned earlier. ,pecific
energy is a useful figure of merit because it correlates closely with range. 2ven the
net generation, nickelDmetal hydride battery, only matches the performance of the
isothermal open Rankine cycle. And the open Rankine is not the highest
performing cycle available. ?y adding a, methane topping cycle, upwards of
#8$ :DhrGkg can be achieved.
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Chapter =
TECHNICAL ISSUES
=,1, Ra)ge E1te)s#o) a)( Po>er Boost#)g%
Range etension and performance enhancement can be realized by heating
the !&
*
to above ambient temperatures with the combustion of a relatively low
pollution fuel such as ethanol or natural gas. ?y increasing the gaseous &
*
temperature to 6$$ <, the specific work at 4 ;3a for the adiabatic engine is
increased by 8$J to make it nearly the same as the work from an isothermal
epansion engine operating at .$$ <. %n this particular propulsive cycle an etra
superheat of *$$AC results in only a .$J increase in specific power. Thus the
advantage of operating above ambient temperature depends, in part, on how
isothermal the epansion process can be made to be.
There is also the intriguing possibility of storing energy for boosting power
or etending range by applying a medium that undergoes a phase change to the
final superheater segment of the heat echanger system. %deally the phase change
material would be slowly @recharged@ as it absorbs heat from the atmosphere while
the vehicle is parked and during cruise when peaking power is not required. 5ast
recharging with electric heaters may also be considered. :e recognize that this
added compleity must compete in mass and compactness with the alternative of
Eust carrying more !&
*
.
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Chapter 10
CONCLUSION
The potential for utilizing the available energy of liquid nitrogen for
automotive propulsion looks very promising. Time to recharge BrefuelC,
infrastructure investment, and environmental impact are among the issues to
consider, in addition to range and performance, when comparing the relative
merits of different F27 technologies. The convenience of pumping a fluid into the
storage tank is very attractive when compared with the typical recharge times
associated with leadDacid batteries. ;anufacturing !&
*
from ambient air inherently
removes small quantities of atmospheric pollutants and the installation of largeD
scale liquefaction equipment at eisting fossilDfuel power stations could make flue
gas condensation processes economical and even eliminate the emissions of C'
*
.
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RE"ERENCE
:::. aa. washington. edu
+eat transfer, L.3. +olman
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