Experimental investigation on No-Vent fill (NVF) process using liquid Nitrogen

Abstract

For a long-term space mission, filling process of cryogenic liquid propellant is operated on a space vehicle in space. A vent process during transfer and filling of cryogenic propellant is needed to maintain the fuel tank pressure at a safe level due to its volatile characteristic. It is possible that both liquid and vapor phases of the cryogenic propellant are released simultaneously to outer space when the vent process occurs under low gravity environment. As a result, the existing filling process with venting not only accompanies wasting liquid propellant, but also consumes extra fuel to compensate for the unexpected momentum originated from the vent process. No-Vent Fill (NVF) method, a filling procedure without a venting process of cryogenic liquid propellant, is an attractive technology to perform a long-term space mission. In this paper, the preliminary experimental results of the NVF process are described. The experimental set-up consists of a 9-liter cryogenic liquid receiver tank and a supply tank. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is used to simulate the behavior of cryogenic propellant. The whole situation in the receiver tank during NVF is monitored. The major experimental parameter in the experiment is the mass flow rate of the liquid nitrogen. The experimental results demonstrate that as the mass flow rate is increased, NVF process is conducted successfully. The quality and the inlet temperature of the injected LN2 are affected by the mass flow rate. These parameters determine success of NVF.