液氢贮箱微重力喷射降压特性数值模拟研究

为研究在轨环境下,热力学排气系统对低温推进剂贮箱的控压性能,采用CFD方法对微重力条件下液氢贮箱内过冷液体喷射过程开展数值模拟研究,对比计算不同喷射区域、喷射流量、喷射速度等因素对箱内物理场分布与压力变化的影响。计算结果表明,低流量流速下,气相区喷射流体无法形成射流,将在喷口处堆积成液团并逐渐积累,降压效果较弱;而液相区喷射几乎没有降压效果。随着流量流速增大,喷射降压效果均有提升。低流量时,气-液相区喷射可以认为是气、液相区单独喷射的叠加,随着流量流速增大,射流对于气、液相区扰动具有交互影响,不再具有叠加性。整体来看,气-液相区喷射降压性能优于单独区域喷射,液相区喷射降压效果最弱。     

微重力环境下低温流体的数值模拟与特性研究

在重力场下,贮箱中流体的状态是已知的,流体状态是按规律分层分布的,而在微重力环境下,贮箱中流体状态是未知的,气相和液相的分布是不规则的,其界面的几何形状也是不确定的。通过采用VOF方法,对贮箱中的液氢在微重力条件下进行了数值模拟研究,主要考虑了不同重力加速度,接触角和不同充液量等因素的影响,从而得到在微重力条件下影响气液分布的主要因素。     

火箭燃料贮箱热力学排气系统控压性能仿真研究

本文介绍了低温推进剂在轨管理中热力学排气系统(thermodynamic venting system,TVS)的构成及工作原理。基于VOF模型,编写用户自定义程序考虑箱内存在的热质传递现象,采用CFD模拟贮箱内部的压力变化和温度场分布。构建的CFD模型能够较好地模拟TVS的工作特性,证明CFD研究的有效性。针对不同液体初始充灌率、节流条件等影响因素进行变工况模拟,揭示TVS的工作规律。计算TVS在微重力下的控压性能,验证其在微重力下的可行性并获得运行规律。     

气枕压力对液氢贮箱热分层的影响规律

采用CFD技术,对不同气枕压力下液氢贮箱内部物理场进行数值模拟,选择Boussinesq模型解决浮升力的影响.研究表明:气枕压力会对贮箱内部温度场与速度场产生重要影响.箱内流场随气枕压力的增大而明显减弱;气枕压力越大,贮箱顶部与底部区液氢温度越高,而压力对中部区液氢温度的影响随时间发生变化;在近壁区,热边界层厚度及温度分布受气枕压力影响较弱; 边界层速度最大值及出现位置均随气枕压力的升高而降低.     

微重力下低温液氧贮箱热分层研究

为研究微重力下,在轨运行低温液氧箱体内部流体温度场分布,建立了相关数值模型,考虑了气液相变以及各空间辐射热流的影响。计算结果表明:当g为0 g_0时,表面张力驱使液相包裹气枕,并将球形气枕挤出壁面。由于箱内没有自然对流,箱体壁面流体会出现局部过热。当g增加到10~(-6)g_0时,表面张力作用仍较为明显。箱体内部物理场分布与0 g_0工况大致相同。当g增加到10~(-5)g_0时,液相已不能完全包裹气相,气相区一直与箱体顶部接触。当g增加到10~(-4)g_0时,此时箱体内部自然对流已十分明显,气相区大致呈带状,并与顶部壁面有较大的接触面积。短时间内,自然对流可及时将外部漏热带入箱体内部。另外,箱体压力随时间增长呈先降低后逐渐升高的趋势。重力越小,箱体压力也越小。最后通过对比还发现,初始边界条件设置对箱体内部物理场有较大的影响。     

过冷液氧增压排液过程数值模拟研究

为探究大容积贮箱中过冷液氧增压排液过程的热力学特性,基于流体体积法(VOF)和蒸发冷凝模型,构建了过冷液氧排出过程的数值模型。采用文献的实验数据验证了数值模型的准确性,并开展了变流量进气增压排液过程的罐内流场特性分析。研究结果表明,过冷液氧排出过程蒸发冷凝对气枕压降影响显著,采用变流量进气增压的方案能够较好地保持气枕压力稳定,使得气枕压力在3%以内波动。排液过程中,过冷液氧先升温明显,增压随着排液进行,贮箱气枕区域会出现涡状流,气体温度在水平方向有一定波动。     

高温管道内流体流量及温度识别研究

建立了高温管道稳态导热模型,通过有限体积法进行求解,对管道外表面温度分布随流体温度流量的变化规律进行了研究。根据Levenberg-Marquardt算法,提出了由管道外壁面温度分布同时识别管内流体流量及温度的计算方法,通过数值模拟研究了随机测量误差对识别结果的影响,证明了算法的有效性,给出了减小随机误差对识别结果影响的方法。     

基于热力学排气的液氮贮箱控压技术研究（英文）

液氢、液氧等低温推进剂在漏热影响下在轨贮箱压力将逐渐升高,采用热力学排气技术的低温贮箱在常重力环境下开展了压力控制原理验证试验,在对试验系统及热力学排气原理进行分析的基础上,贮箱内压力和液相温度随着时间的变化曲线在混合和并行模式中分别给出,测试结果显示在混合模式中单次控压循环时间逐渐缩短,而在并行模式中随试验开展时间逐渐增加,与混合模式阶段相比,液相温度的上升速率明显降低,验证了热力学排气在控制低温贮箱压力方面的效能。     

低温液体运载火箭推进剂加注过程分析

介绍了国外运载火箭典型低温贮箱的推进剂加注流程,讨论了影响低温推进剂加注特性的主要因素,建立了一种可以描述低温推进剂加注过程的计算模型,结合试验数据验证了模型预示加注过程贮箱推进剂平均温度、气枕压力等关键参数的准确性,进一步依据仿真和试验结果分析了低温推进剂加注过程的典型特性。     

带搅拌器ZBO低温贮箱长期在轨存储非稳态分析

针对带搅拌器ZBO低温贮箱在轨工作过程,采用计算流体动力学软件FLUENT对液氢贮箱进行非稳态模拟分析,获得了贮箱内流体的两相流特性以及压力变化规律。低温贮箱的物理模型为贮箱顶部和底部为椭球形,中间为柱段,贮箱顶部换热器连接低温热管,底部采用喷射泵装置。计算结果表明,随着贮箱外部热量的不断导入,贮箱底部和顶部都出现了气泡,并且逐渐增大,流体最高温度和压力不断上升,增压运行至设定值(运行约80 h)后开启喷射泵和低温制冷机,气泡体积均缩小,流体最高温度和压力明显降低(运行约20 min)。     

Performance analysis of no-vent fill process for liquid hydrogen tank in terrestrial and on-orbit environments

Two finite difference computer models, aiming at the process predictions of no-vent fill in normal gravity and microgravity environments respectively, are developed to investigate the filling performance in a liquid hydrogen (LH₂) tank. In the normal gravity case model, the tank/fluid system is divided into five control volume including ullage, bulk liquid, gas–liquid interface, ullage-adjacent wall, and liquid-adjacent wall. In the microgravity case model, vapor–liquid thermal equilibrium state is maintained throughout the process, and only two nodes representing fluid and wall regions are applied. To capture the liquid–wall heat transfer accurately, a series of heat transfer mechanisms are considered and modeled successively, including film boiling, transition boiling, nucleate boiling and liquid natural convection. The two models are validated by comparing their prediction with experimental data, which shows good agreement. Then the two models are used to investigate the performance of no-vent fill in different conditions and several conclusions are obtained. It shows that in the normal gravity environment the no-vent fill experiences a continuous pressure rise during the whole process and the maximum pressure occurs at the end of the operation, while the maximum pressure of the microgravity case occurs at the beginning stage of the process. Moreover, it seems that increasing inlet mass flux has an apparent influence on the pressure evolution of no-vent fill process in normal gravity but a little influence in microgravity. The larger initial wall temperature brings about more significant liquid evaporation during the filling operation, and then causes higher pressure evolution, no matter the filling process occurs under normal gravity or microgravity conditions. Reducing inlet liquid temperature can improve the filling performance in normal gravity, but cannot significantly reduce the maximum pressure in microgravity. The presented work benefits the understanding of the no-vent fill performance and may guide the design of on-orbit no-vent fill system.     

Experimental investigation on no-vent fill process using tetrafluoromethane (CF4)

This paper investigates the transfer of liquid cryogens using a no-vent fill (NVF) process experimentally to identify the dominant NVF parameters. The experimental apparatus has been fabricated with extensive instrumentations to precisely study the effects of each NVF parameter. Liquid tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) is selected as the working fluid due to its similar molecular structures and similar normal boiling point and triple point with liquid methane which has been considered as an attractive future cryogenic propellant. The experimental results show that the initial receiver tank wall temperature and the incoming liquid temperature are the primary factors that characterize the (non-equilibrium) thermodynamic state at the start of a NVF transfer. The supply pressure is also critical as it indicates the ability to condense vapor in the receiver tank. A non-dimensional map based on energy balance is proposed to find acceptable initial conditions of the filling volume at the desired final tank pressure. The non-dimensional map shows good agreement with the NVF data not only in this paper but also in the previous research.     

Three-dimensional analysis for liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic storage tank with heat pipe–pump system

This paper presents a study on fluid flow and heat transfer of liquid hydrogen in a zero boil-off cryogenic storage tank in a microgravity environment. The storage tank is equipped with an active cooling system consisting of a heat pipe and a pump–nozzle unit. The pump collects cryogen at its inlet and discharges it through its nozzle onto the evaporator section of the heat pipe in order to prevent the cryogen from boiling off due to the heat leaking through the tank wall from the surroundings. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model is employed in a set of numerical simulations to solve for velocity and temperature fields of liquid hydrogen in steady state. Complex structures of 3-D velocity and temperature distributions determined from the model are presented. Simulations with an axisymmetric model were also performed for comparison. Parametric study results from both models predict that as the speed of the cryogenic fluid discharged from the nozzle increases, the mean or bulk cryogenic fluid speed increases linearly and the maximum temperature within the cryogenic fluid decreases.     

汽气混合流凝结液膜形成机理研究

汽气混合流体凝结放热过程中凝结所形成的液膜厚度对换热效果的影响较大,因此通过探讨液膜厚度沿管壁的变化,有利于分析强化换热过程。以圆管为例,对汽气混合流体凝结所形成的液膜机理、沿管壁的分布规律及换热性能进行分析,并建立相应的物理及数学模型。通过给定初始条件进行计算,结果表明：液膜沿管壁向下流动过程中其厚度逐渐增加、换热性能逐渐降低;同时分析了管壁温度、汽气混合流体速度及管径等主要参数对液膜的形成及换热性能的影响,为强化凝结换热过程提供了理论基础。     

啤酒锥型发酵罐温度分布实验研究及分析

利用传热学原理与流体力学原理,并结合啤酒发酵工艺,分析了实验数据,并得出结论：在啤酒发酵过程中,热扩散起主导作用;还分析了发酵各阶段罐壁与罐内发酵液的温差情况,以及环境温度,冷煤温度,酵母对罐壁面温度的影响。     

Thermal Response of a Two-Phase Near-Critical Fluid in Low Gravity: Strong Gas Overheating as Due to a Particular Phase Distribution

An experimental study of the thermal response to a stepwise rise of the wall temperature of two-phase near-critical SF₆ in low gravity for an initial temperature ranging from 0.1 to 10.1 K from the critical temperature is described. The change in the vapor temperature with time considerably exceeds the change in the wall temperature (overheating by up to 23% of the wall temperature rise). This strong vapor overheating phenomenon results from the inhomogeneous adiabatic heating process occurring in the two-phase near-critical fluid while the vapor bubble is thermally isolated from the thermostated walls by the liquid. One-dimensional numerical simulations of heat transfer in near-critical two-phase ³He confirm this explanation. The influence of heat and mass transfer between gas and liquid occurring at short time scales on the thermal behavior is analyzed. A model for adiabatic heat transfer, which neglects phase change but accounts for the difference between the thermophysical properties of the vapor and those of the liquid, is presented. A new characteristic time scale of adiabatic heat transfer is derived, which is found to be larger than that in a one-phase liquid and vapor.     

Simulation Research of Vaporization and Pressure Variation in a Cryogenic Propellant Tank at the Launch Site

In order to improve depiction of pressure variation and investigate the interrelation among the physical processes in propellant tanks, a 2D axial symmetry Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) CFD model is established to simulate a large-sized liquid propellant tank when the rocket is preparing for launch with propellant loaded at the launch site. The numerical model is considered with propellant free convection, heat transfer between the tank and the external environment, thermal exchange between propellant and inner tank wall surfaces, gas compressibility, and phase change modeled under the assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium. Vaporization rate of the vented LH2 tank and prediction of pressure change in the tank pressurized with GHe are obtained through simulation. We analysis the distributions of phase, temperature, and velocity vectors to reveal interactions among the propellant’s own convection motion, heat transfer and phase change. The results show that the vaporization rate is mainly affected by heat leaks though the tank wall when the tank is vented, but it does not completely accord with the trend of the leakage because of convection motion and temperature nonuniformity of the liquid propellant in the tank. We also find that the main factors on pressure variation in the pressurized tank are the heat transfer on the tank wall surface bonding the ullage and propellant vaporization which has comparatively less influence.     

Validation of two-phase CFD models for propellant tank self-pressurization: Crossing fluid types,scales, and gravity levels

This paper examines our computational ability to capture the transport and phase change phenomena that govern cryogenic storage tank pressurization and underscores our strengths and weaknesses in this area in terms of three computational-experimental validation case studies. In the first study, 1g pressurization of a simulant low-boiling point fluid in a small scale transparent tank is considered in the context of the Zero-Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) Experiment to showcase the relatively strong capability that we have developed in modelling the coupling between the convective transport and stratification in the bulk phases with the interfacial evaporative and condensing heat and mass transfer that ultimately control self-pressurization in the storage tank. Here, we show that computational predictions exhibit excellent temporal and spatial fidelity under the moderate Ra number – high Bo number convective-phase distribution regimes. In the second example, we focus on 1g pressurization and pressure control of the large-scale K-site liquid hydrogen tank experiment where we show that by crossing fluid types and physical scales, we enter into high Bo number – high Ra number flow regimes that challenge our ability to predict turbulent heat and mass transfer and their impact on the tank pressurization correctly, especially, in the vapor domain. In the final example, we examine pressurization results from the small scale simulant fluid Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TCPE) performed in microgravity to underscore the fact that in crossing into a low Ra number – low Bo number regime in microgravity, the temporal evolution of the phase front as affected by the time-dependent residual gravity and impulse accelerations becomes an important consideration. In this case detailed acceleration data are needed to predict the correct rate of tank self-pressurization.     

Pool Boiling with Non-condensable Gas in Microgravity: Results of a Sounding Rocket Experiment

Pool boiling experiments in microgravity have been performed in the Sounding Rocket Maser 11. A heated plate of 1cm ² was located at the bottom of a small cylindrical tank partly filled with a refrigerant Novec HFE7000 pressurized with Nitrogen. Experiments were performed at different reservoir pressures and wall heat fluxes. The wall heat flux and wall temperature were simultaneously measured during the experiment and the behavior of the bubbles on the heater was filmed with a video camera through the transparent wall of the reservoir. The presence of Nitrogen dissolved inside the liquid led to a strong Marangoni convection around the bubble. The effect of Marangoni convection and evaporation on the wall heat transfer is analyzed in function of the relative values of the wall temperature and saturation temperature.