Comparison of the Continuous Freeze Slush Hydrogen Production Technique to the Freeze/Thaw Technique

摘要

Experiments were conducted to compare slush hydrogen production rates between the continuous freeze technique and the freeze/thaw technique. The continuous freeze technique involves pulling a continuous vacuum over triple point liquid and using a solid hydrogen mechanical ice-breaker to disrupt the surface of the freezing hydrogen. The data showed that the continuous freeze production technique had an average production rate that was 39 percent higher than the freeze/thaw methods tested. Gaseous helium was not used to disrupt solid hydrogen bridging in any of the slush production tests reported here. The continuous freeze tests however, did demonstrate the feasibility of using a mechanical ice-breaker to disrupt the solid hydrogen surface which could be applied to large scale slush hydrogen generators that previously required the aid of expensive gaseous helium injection to melt the solid hydrogen bridge.