Liquid impact pressure control methods and systems

A method of optimizing a liquid impact pressure of a liquid on an object in a liquid impact system, comprising:

• a) determining an optimum liquid impact pressure of the liquid on the object;
• b) selecting an attribute consisting of at least one of a composition of the liquid, a composition of the gas, the temperature of the system, and a gaseous pressure of the liquid impact system;
• c) calculating a liquid impact pressure of the liquid on the object by determining a parameter Ψ for the system, wherein Ψ is defined as (ρG/ρL)(κ−1)/κ, wherein ρG is a density of the gas, κ is a polytropic index of the gas, and ρL is a density of the liquid;
• d) comparing the optimum pressure with the calculated pressure;
• e) selecting one of the following:
• i) if the calculated pressure is not substantially equal to the optimum pressure:
• adjusting at least one of the composition of the liquid, the composition of the gas, and a gaseous pressure of the liquid impact system, and repeating steps c)-e);
• or
• ii) if the calculated pressure is substantially equal to the optimum pressure, selecting the composition of the liquid, the composition of the gas, and the gaseous pressure of the liquid impact system.

A method of reducing a liquid impact pressure in a container, comprising:

• providing a liquid impact system, comprising:
• a liquid, a first gas, and a container having a liquid volume filled with the liquid, and an ullage volume substantially filled with the first gas, wherein the liquid has a density (ρL) and the gas has a density (ρG) and a polytropic index (κ);
• determining a parameter Ψ for the two-phase system, wherein the parameter Ψ is defined as (ρG/ρL)(κ−1)/κ, and wherein an increase in the parameter Ψ results in a decrease in the liquid-impact load on the container;
• and
• increasing the parameter Ψ in the system, comprising a step selected from the group consisting of:
• increasing the pressure of the first gas in the container, replacing a portion of the first gas with a selected gas having a higher parameter Ψ, increasing the liquid volume in the container, decreasing a volume of boil-off gas, wherein the volume of boil-off gas is a result of boil-off from the liquid volume, and any combination thereof.

A system for reducing a liquid impact load in a container, comprising:

• a liquid impact system, comprising:
• (i) a volume of liquid in a container, the liquid having at least a density (ρL);
• (ii) an ullage volume in the container containing at least an initial ullage gas, the initial ullage gas having at least a density (ρG) and a polytropic index (κ);
• a sensor system configured to determine at least the volume of liquid, the ullage volume, the liquid density (ρL), an ullage gas density (ρG), and an ullage gas polytropic index (κ);
• a calculator configured to calculate a parameter Ψ for the liquid impact system, wherein Ψ is defined as (ρG/ρL)(κ−1)/κ and an increase in the parameter Ψ results in a decrease in a liquid impact load in the container;
• and
• a controller configured to control at least one physical attribute of the liquid impact system to increase the value of the parameter Ψ.