Abstract
Hydrogen, as a space propellant, plays an important role in future space energy systems. However, it is sensitive to heat leakage from the environment because of its low boiling point and small density. Besides, the buoyancy convection is weakened and even completely suppressed in space microgravity environment. When there is heat leakage on the wall of the propellant tank, temperature stratification will be produced around the heat leakage source, resulting in propellant overheating. This will affect the interfacial heat and mass transfer, leading to pressure rise in the tank, and even endanger the structural safety of the system. To prevent tank pressure from rising above its design limits, venting or active pressure control techniques must be implemented. The cryogenic jet mixing is an effective method to suppress temperature stratification. The cryogenic fluid is mixed with the fluid inside the tank through a jet nozzle to reduce the thermal stratification and achieve uniform temperature distribution. In the present study, the temperature stratification phenomenon caused by heat leakage and its destratification via a cryogenic jet under microgravity condition were numerically investigated in the context of a partially liquid-filled large scale model tank. The effects of cryogenic jet mixing on the elimination of temperature stratification were analyzed for different initial filling ratios and mass flow rates. The results show that a higher incident mass flow rate can effectively destroy the temperature stratification inside the tank and promote an inside fluid flow for a given liquid filling ratio. A smaller filling ratio results in a faster growth in both average temperature and average pressure, and a larger amount of mass transfer inside the tank. It is more efficient to implement the cryogenic jet injection in the early stage when the remained propellant is still abundant, or adopt a higher incident mass flow rate to suppress the thermal stratification in the tank.
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The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDY-SSW-JSC040) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Gant No. 12172363, 11672311).
Funding
Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences,CAS,QYZDY-SSW-JSC040,Kai Li,National Natural Science Foundation of China,12172363,Kai Li,11672311,Kai Li
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Li, JC., Guo, B., Zhao, JF. et al. On the Space Thermal Destratification in a Partially Filled Hydrogen Propellant Tank by Jet Injection. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 34, 6 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-021-09923-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-021-09923-2