抄録
In the near future, cryogenic propellants will be managed on orbit for space transportation systems. Resupply of cryogenic fluids on orbit is one technology area common to all future space missions. To arrive at this technology, gas-liquid separation and heat management will have to be developed. We propose a new fluid transfer technique, which employs centrifugal force in swirl flow for the gas-liquid separation. In addition, the condensation of vapor in the gas phase is promoted by supplying a spray of cold liquid. First, we conducted a preliminary experiment of tank pre-chill and gas-liquid separation by centrifugal force without a phase change in microgravity using an aircraft. Further analyses of swirl flow behaviors were conducted by means of the computational program FLOW-3D. Second, to construct a thermal analytical model required for the design of cryogenic fluid resupply technology, a one-dimensional thermal analytical model was created by means of the computational program SINDA/FLUINT and the evaluation of this model was conducted by a refilling experiment using liquid nitrogen.
