Overall Thermal Performance of Flexible Piping Under Simulated Bending Conditions

摘要

Flexible, vacuum-insulated transfer lines for low-temperature applications have higher thermal losses than comparable rigid lines. Typical flexible piping construction uses corrugated tubes, inner and outer, with a multilayer insulation (MLI) system in the annular space. Experiments on vacuum insulation systems in a flexible geometry were conducted at the Cryogenics Test Laboratory of NASA Kennedy Space Center. The effects of bending were simulated by causing the inner tube to be eccentric with the outer tube. The effects of spacers were simulated in a controlled way by inserting spacer tubes for the length of the cylindrical test articles. Two material systems, standard MLI and a layered composite insulation (LCI), were tested under the full range of vacuum levels using a liquid nitrogen boiloff calorimeter to determine the apparent thermal conductivity (k-value). The results indicate that the flexible piping under simulated bending conditions significantly degrades the thermal performance of the insulation system. These data are compared to standard MLI for both straight and flexible piping configurations. The definition of an overall k-value for actual field installations (k(sub oafi)) is described for use in design and analysis of cryogenic piping systems.