A new strategy for chilldown enhancement in cryogenic propulsion systems

Ambitious goals of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and decarbonisation have been set by the recent policies European Green Deal, Energy Union (2030 energy and climate targets) and European Union’s 2050 long-term decarbonisation strategy, aiming for a successful green energy transition. My project objective is to enhance the cryogenic chilldown process to minimise liquid hydrogen consumption in future applications as fuel for terrestrial, maritime and aviation transportation.

Indeed, combined with partial vehicle electrification, the use of cryogenic fuels (first and foremost liquid hydrogen) in terrestrial, maritime and aviation transports has gained an increasingly prominent role thanks to their environmentally friendly nature and ability to store the energy and control its release. Cryogenic fuels can be stored as gas or liquid. Even though cryogenic liquefaction requires energy due to typical low temperatures (< 120 K), it is advantageous since it produces high fuel densities. This makes liquified cryogenic fuels particularly suitable for the next hybrid transport systems. However, defined as the initial transient process of keeping the system adjusted to the low temperature, cryogenic chilldown in pipelines of fuel storage and handling systems is still highly inefficient (average quenching efficiency < 39%). I propose a new strategy for cryogenic chilldown enhancement by tuning the inner wettability of pipelines using surface engineering via femtosecond laser texturing.