Study on heat transfer characteristics of liquid droplet radiator: With VS without inter-droplets coupling

Abstract

Liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is a promising cooling system for the high-power spacecraft. The study of the droplet radiation heat transfer mechanism is vitally important for the optimal design of the whole LDR system. Firstly, the radiation heat transfer characteristics of the isolated droplet are analyzed. Then, the Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the angel factor for multiple droplets interacting with each other. Finally, the radiation heat transfer characteristics of the LDR are numerically simulated by the angular coefficient matrix. For two identical droplets, when the ratio of the distance to the radius is greater than 3, the temperature changes of the interacting droplets are the same as the isolated droplets. In addition, the results reveals that tin is the most suitable working fluid for the LDR. These conclusions can lay basis for the optimal design of the LDR and provide guidance for the subsequent research about LDR.