Abstract
A heat exchanger analysis is performed to investigate the heating characteristics of cryogenic nitrogen by ambient air for the purpose of cryogenic automotive propulsion. The heat exchanger is a concentric triple-passage for supercritical nitrogen, and the radial fins are attached on the outermost tube for the crossflow of ambient air. The temperature distribution is calculated for the nitrogen along the passage, including the real gas properties of nitrogen, the fluid convections and the conductions through the tube walls and the fins. Since the wall temperature of the outer (ambient side) tube is very low in most cases, a heavy frost can be formed on the surface, affecting the heat exchange performance. By the method of the similarity between the heat and the mass transfer of moist air, the frost growth and the time-dependent effectiveness of the heat exchanger are calculated for various operating conditions. It is concluded that the frost formation can augment the heating of nitrogen during the initial period because of the latent heat, then gradually degrades the heat exchange because of the increased thermal resistance. Practical design issues are discussed for the flow rate of nitrogen, the velocity and humidity of ambient air, and the sizes of the fin.