Study of the thermal characteristics of propellant tanks in microgravity and its application to propellant gauging

Abstract

Abstract The use of the thermal propellant gauging (TPG) method for propellant mass detection in aerospace tanks inevitably involves the continuous heating of the tank, and the understanding of the heat transfer mechanism of the tanks in a microgravity environment plays a guiding role in the implementation of the TPG. In this paper, the thermal characteristics of propellant tanks under microgravity are investigated by simulation and it is found that with the weakening of gravity, the heat transfer slows down and ‘heat concentration’ occurs in the vicinity of the heater. The effect of this property on the implementation of the TPG was then investigated by simulation, and it was found that in the microgravity environment, the accuracy of the TPG detection can be improved by adjusting the locations of the heaters and temperature sensors on the external side of the tank wall.