Heat transfer management in propellant tanks

A critical issue in long-term space exploration missions is the storage and management of cryogenic propellants. Storage tanks are exposed to extreme temperatures and radiation, and hot spots might appear on the tank walls even with an efficient temperature insulation. We propose a technique based on acoustic fields to manage the generation of vapour bubbles in microgravity. During an experimental campaign carried out at the ZARM drop tower in Germany, the acoustic approach was evaluated to manage heat transfer and vapour bubble dynamics in a tank filled with HFE-7100 during microgravity periods of 4.5 seconds. We present the acoustic technique and results obtained in the microgravity campaign at different scenarios, where the acoustic technique was found to be a feasible approach for bubble and heat management in cryogenic propellant tanks.
This work was financially supported by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spain) projects ESP2016- 79196-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) and PID2020- 116413GB-I00 (MCIN / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033). We acknowledge the European Space Agency (ESA) for providing access to the ZARM drop tower. We thank ZARM engineering team for valuable technical support.
Peer Reviewed
Postprint (published version)