Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Numerical Investigation Of Boiling In A Sealed Tank In Microgravity, Sonya Lynn Hylton

ETD Archive

NASA's missions in space depend on the storage of cryogenic fluids for fuel and for life support. During long-term storage, heat can leak into the cryogenic fluid tanks. Heat leaks can cause evaporation of the liquid, which pressurizes the tank. However, when the tanks are in a microgravity environment, with reduced natural convection, heat leaks can also create superheated regions in the liquid. This may lead to boiling, resulting in much greater pressure rises than evaporation at the interface between the liquid and vapor phases. Models for predicting the pressure rise are needed to aid in developing methods to control …