Simulation of self-pressurization in cryogenic propellant tank

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Authors

Chen, Liang
Ai, Bangcheng
Chen, Siyuan
Liang, Guozhu

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HEFAT

Abstract

In order to predict the pressure and investigate the interrelation among the physical processes in cryogenic propellant tanks, a 2D axial symmetry Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model including a liquid propellant phase and a mixture real gas phase is established. The propellant phase change model is based on the assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium. Two comparisons between the simulation results and the self-pressurization tests of two different liquid hydrogen tanks are made to validate the model. And the deviations of pressure in the tanks are 2.7%~6.1%. The results indicate that the evaporation induced by the initial overheat is the key factor of the pressure rising in the liquid hydrogen tank at the beginning of self-pressurization, but has less influence when the tank becomes saturated.

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Papers presented to the 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Costa de Sol, Spain on 11-13 July 2016.

Keywords

Self-pressurization, Cryogenic propellant tank

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