Numerical investigation of pressurization performance in cryogenic tank of new‐style launch vehicle

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe pressurization performance of cryogenic tanks during discharge is investigated by a computational fluid dynamic approach. A series of cases accounting for the effects of various influence factors such as inlet gas temperature, ramp time of inlet gas temperature, wall thickness, outflow rate, injector structure, and liquid supercooling on pressurization behaviors are computed and analyzed successively. Several valuable conclusions have been drawn as follows: (1) Increasing inlet gas temperature, applying a thin wall to construct the tank, and increasing the outflow rate are beneficial to the reduction of gas requirements, (2) Ramp process and use of a straight pipe injector may lead to an excessive pressure drop at the beginning of discharge, (3) Use of straight pipe injector can remarkably reduce the gas requirement but lead to a large loss of liquid propellant as well as a large weight of final ullage gas, and (4) The mode of mass transfer within the tank is close related to the injector structure and liquid supercooling. A trend of mass transfer toward evaporation can be observed by increasing the liquid temperature, especially for the straight pipe injector case. Generally, the results of this paper might be beneficial to the design and optimization of a pressurization system. © 2013 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.