International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
2020

Investigation on the difference of geyser behaviors among different cryogenic fuels of launch vehicle

H.W. Mao^a,b, Y.Z. Li^a,b, L. Wang^a, F.S. Xie^a, J.J. Wang^a
aInstitute of Refrigeration & Cryogenic Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, PR China
^bState Key Laboratory of Technologies in Space Cryogenic Propellants, Beijing, 100028, PR China

摘要：

The safety issues of geyser instability in cryogenic fuels have imposed a restriction on their utilization and development. In order to get a comprehensive knowledge of geyser in different cryogenic fuels, in the present paper, a numerical investigation is conducted to figure out the geyser appearance in liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen, liquid methane and liquid nitrogen. The geyser behaviors in these cryogens are analyzed and compared in detail. The physics of the reason leading to the differences among different cryogenic fuels is comprehensively explored. Results show that geyser is more likely to occur in LO₂ and has the largest intensity due to the strong energy storage ability, and difficult to occur in LH₂ pipe, where a stable boiling state with a high gas void fraction might exist instead. It is found that the density difference is the main reason for the distinction among the investigated cryogens. Furthermore, a dimensionless parameter of the maximum energy storage ability (Ae) is proposed to quantitatively estimate the geyser’s intensity. And it turns out to have a good prediction ability. Moreover, it is found that the increase of Ae arises the possibility and intensity of geyser occurrence. And if Ae goes over 4, a strong geyser with a harmful pressure peak might occur. The findings could give an in-depth understanding of geyser in different cryogenic fuels and assist the design of cryogenic transportation and storage systems.