Optimal Design of a Helical Coil Support for Dewars in Fuel Cell Applications

Optimal Design of a Helical Coil Support for Dewars in Fuel Cell Applications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Optimal Design of a Helical Coil Support for Dewars in Fuel Cell Applications Baby Nitin, Pavitra Sandilya, Goutam Chakraborty This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-770941/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Apr, 2022 Read the published version in Environmental Science and Pollution Research → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fuel cells are gaining popularity because of their efficient energy production without causing environmental pollution. Recently DRDO, has developed a fuel cell-based fuel cell-based Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system. In this system, the hydrogen is produced onboard while oxygen is carried in liquified form (LOX) from the land in specially designed insulated storage vessels called dewars. Such vessels are needed because LOX has low boiling point (NBP ~ 90K) and heat of vaporization (~213 kJ/kg) due to which it boils off easily even when there is small amount of heat inleak from the ambient. A typical dewar consists of two vessels separated by insulation. Support members are used to hold the two vessels together. Heat inleak through the supports and the insulation of the dewar causes the boiling of LOX. The vessels are subjected to dynamic loads during the voyage as well as due to the filling and consumption of LOX. Therefore, the support system should be designed so that it can withstand the dynamic loads experienced by the dewar. While the support system should have enough mechanical strength to withstand the loads it is subjected to, it should also restrict the heat inleak from the ambient to minimize the LOX boil-off. To meet this requirement, we need to optimize the support system design. Design optimization of support systems is especially critical in submarines to reduce the snorkeling frequency. Even though the dewars are available commercially for various applications, their design methodologies are not available in the open literature. Cylindrical rods are generally used as support members. In earlier studies, the authors have shown that helical coils give better thermal performance than tension rods as dewar supports. These two support systems involve different design criteria. It is important to evolve an optimal design of the support system to maximize the mechanical strength of the support while minimizing the heat inleak through the support. In this paper we are presenting a design methodology for optimizing a helical support. We have proposed a modified optimization technique derived from the classical genetic algorithm (GA) for this purpose. The modification has been done by ensuring design feasibility of the coil at each step of the algorithm. The proposed optimization technique has been tested on a LOX dewar and an optimal design of the helical coil support has been obtained. Environmental Engineering Fuel Cell Dewars Liquid Oxygen Genetic Algorithm Optimization Helical Coil Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Apr, 2022 Read the published version in Environmental Science and Pollution Research → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major Revision 26 Feb, 2022 Reviews received at journal 30 Jan, 2022 Reviewers invited by journal 22 Aug, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 04 Aug, 2021 First submitted to journal 31 Jul, 2021 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-770941","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":47434771,"identity":"19618e48-ba02-4980-b0cb-63ad55d4f5e8","order_by":0,"name":"Baby Nitin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Baby","middleName":"","lastName":"Nitin","suffix":""},{"id":47434772,"identity":"0d0d78ce-3b8c-48d5-ba44-ea858da31841","order_by":1,"name":"Pavitra 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