Speaker
Description
The cryogenic boil-off from liquid hydrogen can be utilized to harness the endothermic para- to orthohydrogen quantum state conversion, providing cooling, for example to superconducting motors, thereby enabling high efficiency sustainable transportation. Magnetic catalysts, such as Fe2O3, are used to accelerate the rate of parahydrogen conversion to achieve higher cooling rates. However, the large volume and mass requirements of these catalysts can be a barrier to the use of parahydrogen conversion for cooling superconducting motors. Externally applied magnetic fields can enhance catalyst activity to deliver larger cooling loads with smaller parahydrogen catalytic converter sizes. This approach offers a potential synergy with the magnetic field produced by superconducting motors. The degree of magnetic enhancement is highly dependent on the catalyst material and operating temperature and requires experimental measurements to assess its potential value for cooling superconducting motors.
This study experimentally investigated the influence of an externally applied magnetic field on the para-orthohydrogen conversion rate on a Fe2O3 based (Molecular Products Ionex OP) catalyst at temperatures relevant to superconductor motor cooling. Experiments revealed that a 0.2 kOe applied magnetic field accelerates the catalysis rate by 50 % at a temperature of 40 K, whereas slight magnetic deceleration of the catalysis rate was observed at a T = 90 K. A combined kinetic and heat transfer model suggests that the magnetic kinetic enhancement could reduce the required catalyst volume for cooling a superconducting motor by 50 %. Kinetic analysis and magnetic characterization of the catalyst indicate a potential dual mechanism underlying the magneto-catalytic effect, which could help support the development of high activity magnetic catalysts and advance fundamental theory on the para-orthohydrogen conversion mechanism.
