Session: 06-16-01 Wave Mechanics, Modeling and Wave Effects - I

Submission Number: 176116

Towards Numerical Simulation of Cryogenic Liquid Sloshing 

Cryogenic liquids provide effective ways to store fossil fuels and renewable energy. Shipping cryogenic liquids, in particular liquified natural gas (LNG), by sea routes has been a long-time practice of the energy industry since 1950s. During the journey of a LNG carrier, it may experience rough sea states under harsh weather conditions. Meanwhile the cryogenic liquid carried by the vessel may undergo corresponding violent motions resulting in strong wave impact loadings on the vessel’s internal structure [1]. In recent years, the aviation industry has developed a particular interest in liquid hydrogen, which can be potentially used as a zero-carbon-emission fuel [2]. However, the sloshing of liquid hydrogen poses challenges to structural integrity and safety during the taking off, landing and even cruising stages of an aeroplane when encountering turbulent air flows [3]. Thus, the modelling of cryogenic liquid sloshing in containers under external excitation is crucial for the accurate prediction and effective mitigation of the adverse impact applied by the fluid on structure.

Numerical modelling of two-phase air-water flows has been a common practice in the hydrodynamics research community for wave-structure interaction problems. However, cryogenic liquids cannot simply be modelled as these kinds of fluids. A cryogenic liquid stored in containers is usually under the saturation condition, which means the pressure and temperature of the liquid are close to its boiling point. Fluctuations of pressure and/or temperature in the tank can cause significant phase change of the substance from its liquid state to gas state or vice versa. Thus, the condensable vapour of a cryogenic fluid doesn’t simply act like air as a cushioning medium between the sloshing liquid and structure [4].

We aim to develop a novel numerical model that can take into account the crucial hydrodynamic and thermal effects, including compressibility, phase change and gas-liquid mixing, for simulating cryogenic liquid sloshing under external excitation. In the present work, we undertake an examination of an open-source two-phase flow modelling tool, interDyMFoam, with a series of air-water sloshing problems in a circular tank [5]. A detailed mesh convergence study of free-surface elevations shows that interDyMFoam can produce converged solutions for sloshing under different filling levels and excitation conditions. This demonstrates the effectiveness of interDyMFoam in handling air-water sloshing, with a potential to be further developed by including phase change and other important thermal-hydrodynamic effects modelling capability.

References:

1.     ZH Ma, DM Causon, L Qian, CG Mingham, P Martinez Ferrer. Numerical investigation of air enclosed wave impacts in a depressurised tank. Ocean Engineering 123, 15-27, 2016.

2.     S Tiwari, MJ Pekris, JJ Doherty. A review of liquid hydrogen aircraft and propulsion technologies. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 57, 1174-1196, 2024.

3.     D. Kohlgrüber, M. Petsch, Chr. Leon-Munoz, P. Schatrow, M. Waimer. A process to evaluate fuselage structural loads caused by sloshing in liquid hydrogen tanks. Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress, Hamburg, Deutschland, 2024 (Unpublished).

4.     Ezeta R, Palacios Muñiz B, Fan YL (Ellis), et al. Large-scale wave impact of a boiling liquid. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 1008: A22, 2025.

5.     CAT-WSI. Isothermal sloshing in a circular tank (CCP-WSI Blind Test Series 5). https://ccp-wsi.ac.uk/catalogue/test_cases/test_case_017#description

Presenting Author: Ling Qian Manchester Metropolitan University

Presenting Author Biography: Prof. Ling Qian is Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). His research interests are in CFD modelling of fluid structure interaction with applications in offshore and aerospace engineering, as well as other industrial flow problems. He has over 130 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings and is a reviewer for over 20 academic journals and conferences. He is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College, the Royal Society International Collaboration Awards Extended Committee and the Technical Programme Committee of the ISOPE.

Authors:

Zhihua Ma Manchester Metropolitan Univerrsity
Ling Qian Manchester Metropolitan University
Wei Bai Manchester Metropolitan University