The research team led by Ri Ju Hyok, a section head at the Faculty of Heat Engineering, has designed and built a cryogenic liquid tank for storage of oxygen liquid.
The tank is manufactured to store oxygen liquid produced by cryogenic distillation process for a certain period and to supply it in either liquid or gas form.
It is composed of an inner body for storage of oxygen liquid, an outer body, a pipeline for injection and exhaustion, safety factors including checker valves, safety valves, pressure control valves, a level meter and manometers and a self-evaporator for increasing the pressure inside the tank.
The space between the inner and outer bodies is filled with thermal insulation material expanded perlite and made vacuous to reduce evaporation loss and to keep cool.
The problem of preserving the cold to minimize cold loss by a heat bridge was solved, which decreased daily loss to only 0.3~0.8%.
The degree of vacuum in the insulated space is 1.3Pa, and the total heat conductivity of the expanded perlite is 0.017W/(m•K).
With all these advantages it can also be used for storage of other cryogenic liquids like nitrogen, argon, etc. as well as oxygen.
© 2021 KumChaek University of Technology