Investigation of liquid hydrogen tank no-vent filling operations

Liquid hydrogen (LH2) transfer operations are critical for enabling large-scale hydrogen distribution but pose significant challenges due to extreme cryogenic conditions, boil-off losses, and safety constraints. This model to dynamically simulate LH2 tank filling under no-vent conditions was developed in Aspen HYSYS. A two-step approach was adopted: first, model validation against experimental data from NASA’s no-vent fill tests, and second, blind simulations to support upcoming trials within the ELVHYS project. The validation demonstrated that configurations featuring dynamically controlled mass-flow closely reproduce experimental filling behaviour, while pressure predictions remain sensitive to assumptions regarding heat-loss modelling and internal tank structures. Blind simulations revealed strong dependence of filling behaviour on feed thermodynamic state and pressure, with subcooled LH2 enabling faster, more stable filling and reduced pressurization compared to saturated conditions. Detailed heat-loss modelling significantly influenced saturated cases but had negligible impact under subcooled conditions. These findings confirm that the model developed in this study can provide valuable insights into LH2 transfer operations when configured with appropriate dynamic controls and thermal assumptions, while highlighting limitations in representing localized phenomena. The results support the development of optimized LH2 transfer protocols for emerging hydrogen infrastructure.