Experimental study on liquid distribution in a vane type propellant tank

Abstract

Abstract Propellant tank is used to store the propellant in propulsion system. Propellant management device (PMD) is the key component in propellant tank to manage the liquid propellant under zero gravity. A microgravity drop tower test system was established to investigate the performance of PMD. A kind of vane type propellant tank was used for the drop tower test. Single module was used for experiment tests, and the microgravity level wass between 10-2g0 and 10-3g0. The anhydrous ethanol is used as analogue liquid. Different volume fraction of liquid were used to study influence of the PMD on the management performance. Changes of gas-liquid interface during the test are studied. Velocities flow along the vane of different liquid volume fraction in the tank are different at the beginning (t<0.8s). The liquid reorientation time is 0.8s when the liquid volume fraction is larger than 10%. The liquid reorientation time is prolong when the liquid volume fraction is less than 10%. The liquid climbing height along vane under microgravity increases as the volume fraction of liquid reduces. Experimental results provide a favorable reference for further optimization design of vane type propellant tank.