论文题目：Boil-off rate equivalence methodology for the nitrogen-substitute testing of liquid hydrogen tanks with a zonal thermal network model.

期刊名称：Science China Technological Sciences《中国科学: 技术科学》(英文版)

作者信息：Hao Wu , Gang Lei, Xiaolin Qiu, XiaoZhong Luo, Shuai Kang, Hongbo Tan*

论文摘要：Acceptance testing for the static boil-off rate (BOR) of large-scale cryogenic tanks often relies on using liquid nitrogen (LN₂) as a surrogate to mitigate the risks and costs associated with liquid hydrogen (LH₂). However, establishing an accurate BOR conversion factor between LN₂ and LH₂ is a significant engineering challenge and hindered by severe thermal stratification and  the large difference in their saturation temperatures (≈57 K). This work introduces a novel approach to address this problem by developing an efficient non-equilibrium zonal model that captures the dominant thermal physics. The proposed model discretizes a cryogenic liquid tank into three fluid zones (ullage, liquid bulk, and an active interface) and two corresponding wall zones to explicitly account for key phenomena such as multimodal natural convection and hydrostatic pressure effects. This integrated model offers a robust tool for predicting complex heat and mass transfer under different cryogenic conditions. The core fluid dynamics of the model are validated against self-pressurization data for both LH₂ (NASA K-Site tests) and LN₂ (KAIST tests). Subsequently, the model is applied to a 300 m³ stationary tank to predict the BOR during an LN₂ test (36.7% fill ratio, with a 15.15% deviation from the experimental result) and to a design-condition LH₂ case (90% fill ratio, with a 10% deviation from the measured data). The multiscale dual-fluid validation experiment strengthens the credibility of the proposed model for surrogate testing. The results reveal that the BOR conversion factor (defined as BORLH₂/BORLN₂) is highly sensitive to both the overall insulation performance (ranging from approximately 2.9 to 6.6) and LN₂ filling ratio (ranging from 3.1 to 8.3). Thus, the study provides a validated methodology and reference data for the safe and cost-effective qualification of large-scale LH₂ storage systems.

“Science China Technological Sciences”是由中国科学院和国家自然科学基金委员会共同主办的工程技术类英文学术期刊‌，被西安交通大学列入“最具国际影响力的学术期刊”名录。