Thermal hydraulic analysis of two phase helium flow through hydro formed cryopanel

In cryo-sorption cryopump developed at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), hydro formed cryopanels are cooled down to 4.5K to adsorb hydrogen isotopes and helium gas. These panels are coated with activated carbon. To maintain continuous high pumping speed, panels require frequent regeneration to remove adsorbed gases. Regeneration comprises of two modes of operation, cool down from 300K to 4.5K and warm up from 4.5K to 100–300K. Thermal hydraulic characteristics were studied involving two phase flow of helium through a hydro formed cryopanel of size 500mm (l) × 100mm (w) with a sheet thickness of 1.5mm. Cool down time and transient parameters of two phase helium flow rate were estimated at real time operating conditions. The results are assessed and show good agreement with experiments.