Numerical investigation of a nitrogen based cryogenic pulsating heat pipe

•A numerical model is extended for the simulation of cryogenic pulsating heat pipes.•Comparison has been carried out with experiments conducted in cryogenic conditions.•The effect of various design parameters is studied on the thermal performance of the pulsating heat pipe.•Existence of optimum design points is established for some of the parameters. In cryogenic conditions, a Pulsating heat pipe (PHP) can be used to transport a high heat flux across a relatively small temperature difference. Using empirical techniques to design such a PHP is unreliable due to the shortage of experimental dataset available for cryogenic operation. A numerical model developed for cryogenic temperatures and compared with experiments conducted at those temperatures is missing from the literature. In this study, a model available for ambient temperature conditions is modified to simulate the working of a nitrogen-based PHP. The effect of various geometric and operational parameters on the internal heat transfer mechanism of the device is also presented. The results indicate the presence of optimum inner tube diameter, fill ratio, and number of turns at which peak performance can be extracted.