Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 3, 2025
10:10
Neutron Crystallography Data Collection and Processing for Modelling Hydrogen Atoms in Protein Structures
Published on: December 1, 2020
5.1K
Data from cryo-neutron phase change experiments with LH2 and LCH4
Kishan Bellur1, Ezequiel F Medici2, Daniel S Hussey3
1University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, United States.
Data in Brief
|July 28, 2022
Summary
Neutron imaging captured the first-ever views of liquid hydrogen and methane phase changes in cryogenic storage. This breakthrough enables better long-term space mission propellant management and stability.
Area of Science:
- Space exploration engineering
- Materials science
- Thermodynamics
Background:
- Long-term space missions require stable cryogenic propellant storage.
- Vaporization of liquid hydrogen and methane is not well understood.
- Imaging liquid-vapor mixtures in opaque cryogenic containers is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To visualize and quantify phase change rates in cryogenic propellants.
- To provide benchmark data for validating models and simulations.
- To improve understanding of propellant storage stability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neutron imaging at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
- Employed Al 6061 and SS 316 test cells within a liquid helium cryostat.
- Captured neutron images during controlled evaporation and condensation cycles.
Main Results:
- Obtained the first known images of steady evaporation and condensation in cryogenic propellants.
- Processed images to determine phase change rates.
- Collected raw imaging data alongside temperature and pressure measurements.
Conclusions:
- Neutron imaging is a viable technique for visualizing cryogenic propellant phase changes.
- The generated dataset offers valuable insights for future cryogenic propellant research.
- This work supports the development of more reliable long-term space missions.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Phase Diagram
6.0K
The phase of a given substance depends on the pressure and temperature. Thus, plots of pressure versus temperature showing the phase in each region provide considerable insights into the thermal properties of substances. Such plots are known as phase diagrams. For instance, in the phase diagram for water (Figure 1), the solid curve boundaries between the phases indicate phase transitions (i.e., temperatures and pressures at which the phases coexist).
6.0K
02:33Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
17.5K
Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
17.5K
02:34Comparing Intermolecular Forces: Melting Point, Boiling Point, and Miscibility
45.3K
Intermolecular forces are attractive forces that exist between molecules. They dictate several bulk properties, such as melting points, boiling points, and solubilities (miscibilities) of substances. Molar mass, molecular shape, and polarity affect the strength of different intermolecular forces, which influence the magnitude of physical properties across a family of molecules.
Temporary attractive forces like dispersion are present in all molecules, whether they are polar or nonpolar. They...
Temporary attractive forces like dispersion are present in all molecules, whether they are polar or nonpolar. They...
45.3K
02:39Phase Diagrams
43.2K
A phase diagram combines plots of pressure versus temperature for the liquid-gas, solid-liquid, and solid-gas phase-transition equilibria of a substance. These diagrams indicate the physical states that exist under specific conditions of pressure and temperature and also provide the pressure dependence of the phase-transition temperatures (melting points, sublimation points, boiling points). Regions or areas labeled solid, liquid, and gas represent single phases, while lines or curves represent...
43.2K
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
12.7K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
12.7K
01:15¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR
1.2K
The axial and equatorial protons in cyclohexane can be distinguished by performing a variable-temperature NMR experiment. In this process, except for one proton, the remaining eleven protons are replaced by deuterium. The deuterium substitution avoids the possible peak splitting caused by the spin-spin coupling between the adjacent protons. The remaining proton flips between the axial and equatorial positions.
1.2K