Decarbonization plays an important role in future energy systems for establishing a zero-carbon society. Hydrogen is believed to be a promising energy source that can be converted, stored, and utilized efficiently, leading to a broad range of possibilities for future applications. Hydrogen can be stored in various forms, including compressed gas, liquid hydrogen, hydrides, adsorbed hydrogen. Among these, liquid hydrogen has high gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen densities. There are a lot of previous studies on thermal behavior of MLI and VCS and optimization insulation system, but research on the insulation performance by varying the head shape of the tank has not been conducted. In this study, thermal-structural coupled analysis was conducted on the insulation system with VCS positioned between two layers of MLI for a liquid hydrogen storage tank. The analysis considered dome shapes (torispherical, circle, ellipses), and heat flux and temperature were derived from thermal analysis to predict insulation performance. Maximum equivalent stress and deformation were calculated from the structural analysis, and the optimal dome shape was proposed.

Hydrogen is considered as one of the most promising future energy carriers due to its noteworthy advantages of renewable and high calorific value. The long-term storage of liquid hydrogen with low heat leakage is essential for future deep space exploration. Because of low critical temperature and volatility, liquid hydrogen tank poses severe requirements to multi-layer insulation (MLI). In order to reduce heat leak into tank, vapor cooled shield (VCS) was set up to cool MLI by retrieving the heat of discharged cryogenic gas hydrogen. This paper presents an parametric study on insulation system in liquid hydrogen storage vessel with MLI and VCS. Thermal model was developed, and heat transfer analysis by varying VCS position was conducted. Temperature and heat flux distributions along time passing were derived, and effect of VCS position on insulation performance was investigated.

The flange spreader has been used to withdraw butterfly valves during maintenance. The typical flange spreaders required an excessive working space, and the pipe and flange are damaged by the load. In the previous study, the author developed a valve easy out tool with collet, and designed collet shape to ensure structural safety. However, clamping force of the collet had not been checked. In this study, design of collet shape was performed to improve clamping force. Techniques of structural analysis were established and design parameters were selected. Through parametric study, the collet shape with clamping force of 159,748N was suggested. This will contribute to stability and efficiently of valve maintenance.

The flange spreader has been used to withdraw gaskets and valves during butterfly valve maintenance. When using the conventional flange spreader, an excessive working space (pipe separation distance) appears, and the pipe and flange are damaged by the load. Also, the equipment can’t be operated safely when the pipe has eccentric fitting. To solve the problems, a valve easy out tool with collet was developed for safely fixing and spreading flange. By using Ansys Workbench 2021 R2, the structural analysis of the original collet was performed, and shape design of the collet was carried out to improve structural safety.