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Results for “Cryogenic Propellant Storage”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2015

Experimental, Numerical and Analytical Characterization of Slosh Dynamics Applied to In-Space Propellant Storage, Management and Transfer

Experimental and numerical results are presented from a new cryogenic fluid slosh program at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Water and cryogenic liquid nitrogen are used in various ground-based tests with an approximately 30 cm diameter spherical tank to characterize damping, slosh mode frequencies, and slosh forces. The experimental results are compared to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for validation. An analytical model is constructed from prior work for comparison. Good agreement is seen between experimental, numerical, and analytical results.

slosh↗
NASA NTRS2015

Experimental, Numerical and Analytical Characterization of Slosh Dynamics Applied to In-Space Propellant Storage, Management and Transfer

Experimental and numerical results are presented from a new cryogenic fluid slosh program at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Water and cryogenic liquid nitrogen are used in various ground-based tests with an approximately 30 cm diameter spherical tank to characterize damping, slosh mode frequencies, and slosh forces. The experimental results are compared to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for validation. An analytical model is constructed from prior work for comparison. Good agreement is seen between experimental, numerical, and analytical results.

slosh mode frequencies↗
NASA NTRS2011

Broad Area Cooler Concepts for Cryogenic Propellant Tanks

Numerous studies and ground tests have shown that broad area cooling (also known as distributed cooling) can reduce or eliminate cryogenic propellant boil-off and enable long duration storage in space. Various combinations of cryocoolers, circulators, heat exchangers and other hardware could be used to build the system. In this study, several configurations of broad area cooling systems were compared by weighing hardware combinations, input power requirements, component availability, and Technical Readiness Level (TRL). The preferred system has a high TRL and can be scaled up to provide cooling capacities on the order of 150W at 90K

Christie, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Transient Convection Due to Imposed Heat Flux: Application to Liquid-Acquisition Devices

A model problem is considered that addresses the effect of heat load from an ambient laboratory environment on the temperature rise of liquid nitrogen inside an enclosure. This model has applications to liquid acquisition devices inside the cryogenic storage tanks used to transport vapor-free propellant to the main engine. We show that heat loads from Q = 0.001 to 10 W, with corresponding Rayleigh numbers from Ra = 109 to 1013, yield a range of unsteady convective states and temperature rise in the liquid. The results show that Q = 1 to 10 W (Ra = 1012 to 1013) yield temperature distributions along the enclosure height that are similar in trend to experimental measurements. Unsteady convection, which shows selfsimilarity in its planforms, is predicted for the range of heat-load conditions. The onset of convection occurs from a free-convection-dominated base flow that becomes unstable against convective instability generated at the bottom of the enclosure while the top of the enclosure is convectively stable. A number of modes are generated with small-scale thermals at the bottom of the enclosure in which the flow selforganizes into two symmetric modes prior to the onset of the propagation of the instability. These symmetric vertical modes transition to asymmetric modes that propagate as a traveling-wave-type motion of convective modes and are representative of the asymptotic convective state of the flow field. Intense vorticity production is created in the core of the flow field due to the fact that there is shear instability between the vertical and horizontal modes. For the higher Rayleigh numbers, 1012 to 1013, there is a transition from a stationary to a nonstationary response time signal of the flow and temperature fields with a mean value that increases with time over various time bands and regions of the enclosure.

Duval, Walter M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Evolutionary space station fluids management strategies

Results are summarized for an 11-month study to define fluid storage and handling strategies and requirements for various specific mission case studies and their associated design impacts on the Space Station. There are a variety of fluid users which require a variety of fluids and use rates. Also, the cryogenic propellants required for NASA's STV, Planetary, and Code Z missions are enormous. The storage methods must accommodate fluids ranging from a high pressure gas or supercritical state fluid to a sub-cooled liquid (and superfluid helium). These requirements begin in the year 1994, reach a maximum of nearly 1800 metric tons in the year 2004, and trail off to the year 2018, as currently planned. It is conceivable that the cryogenic propellant needs for the STV and/or Lunar mission models will be met by LTCSF LH2/LO2 tanksets attached to the SS truss structure. Concepts and corresponding transfer and delivery operations have been presented for STV propellant provisioning from the SS. A growth orbit maneuvering vehicle (OMV) and associated servicing capability will be required to move tanksets from delivery launch vehicles to the SS or co-orbiting platforms. Also, appropriate changes to the software used for OMV operation are necessary to allow for the combined operation of the growth OMV. To support fluid management activities at the Space Station for the experimental payloads and propellant provisioning, there must be truss structure space allocated for fluid carriers and propellant tanksets, and substantial beam strengthening may be required. The Station must have two Mobile Remote Manipulator Systems (MRMS) and the growth OMV propellant handling operations for the STV at the SS. Propellant needs for the Planetary Initiatives and Code Z mission models will most likely be provided by co-orbiting propellant platform(s). Space Station impacts for Code Z mission fluid management activities will be minimal.

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NASA NTRS1983

Propulsion and fluid management - Station keeping will eat energy on a new scale

An attempt is made to identify technologies that could be brought to a state of minimal development risk in the near term, yet offer the potential for evolutionary growth consistent with future space station propulsion requirements. Prospective auxiliary propulsion propellants will be usable by other systems, thereby offering resupply benefits and a benign rather than corrosive or toxic handling environment. NASA programs are currently underway to develop the storage and supply methods for cryogenic liquids in orbit. The recovery of unused propellants from the Space Shuttle Orbiter and External Tank are being evaluated in order to define Shuttle modifications and performance penalties. Fluid management subsystem requirements and characteristics cannot, however, be fully defined until a firm mission scenario has been established and other space station subsystems are more clearly defined.

Petrash, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Fuel Cell Systems for First Lunar Outpost: Reactant Storage Options

A Lunar Surface Power Working Group was formed to review candidate systems for providing power to the first lunar outpost habitat. The working group concluded that the most attractive candidate included a photovoltaic unit, a fuel cell, a regenerator to recycle the reactants, and storage of oxygen and hydrogen gases. Most of the volume (97 percent) and weight (64 percent) are taken up by the reactants and their storage tank. The large volume is difficult to accommodate, and therefore, the working group explored ways of reducing the volume. An alternative approach to providing separate high pressure storage tanks is to use two of the descent stage propellant storage tanks, which would have to be wrapped with graphite fibers to increase their pressure capability. This saves 90 percent of the volume required for storage of fuel cell reactants. Another approach is to use the descent storage propellant tanks for storage of the fuel cell reactants as cryogenic liquids, but his requires a gas liquefication system, increases the solar array by 40 percent, and increases the heat rejection rate by 170 percent compared with storage of reactants as high pressure gases. For a high power system (greater than 20 kW) the larger energy storage requirements would probably favor the cryogenic storage option.

Nelson, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Polymer-Layered Silicate Nanocomposites for Cryotank Applications

Previous composite cryotank designs have relied on the use of conventional composite materials to reduce microcracking and permeability. However, revolutionary advances in nanotechnology derived materials may enable the production of ultra-lightweight cryotanks with significantly enhanced durability and damage tolerance, as well as reduced propellant permeability. Layered silicate nanocomposites are especially attractive in cryogenic storage tanks based on results that have been reported for epoxy nanocomposite systems. These materials often exhibit an order of magnitude reduction in gas permeability when compared to the base resin. In addition, polymer-silicate nanocomposites have been shown to yield improved dimensional stability, strength, and toughness. The enhancement in material performance of these systems occurs without property trade-offs which are often observed in conventionally filled polymer composites. Research efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center have led to the development of epoxy-clay nanocomposites with 70% lower hydrogen permeability than the base epoxy resin. Filament wound carbon fiber reinforced tanks made with this nanocomposite had a five-fold lower helium leak rate than the corresponding tanks made without clay. The pronounced reduction observed with the tank may be due to flow induced alignment of the clay layers during processing. Additionally, the nanocomposites showed CTE reductions of up to 30%, as well as a 100% increase in toughness.

Miller, Sandi G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

COLD-SAT: Cryogenic On-Orbit Liquid Depot-Storage, Acquisition and Transfer

NASA is entering an era of expanded space activity. Space-based transportation systems will carry cargo and humans from low earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit, to lunar bases, and to the Martian surface. Support of these future missions will require new, long lived, on-orbit systems using subcritical cryogens for propellants and life support systems. Such on-orbit systems present low gravity fluid management challenges of long term storage and efficient fluid transfer and supply techniques. Development of these cryogenic systems requires on-orbit experimentation to demonstrate the capability of performing these fluid management tasks and to obtain the engineering data base required to correlate analytical tools used for system design.

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NASA NTRS2005

Pressure Control for Low Earth Orbit Investigated

There is renewed interest in cryogenic oxygen storage for an advanced second-generation orbital maneuvering system and reaction control systems in a low Earth orbit because cryogenic propellants are more energetic and environmentally friendly than current storable propellants. Unfortunately, heat transfer or heat leak into these storage systems increases tank pressure. On Earth, pressure is easily controlled by venting from the gaseous, or ullage, space above the liquid. In low gravity, the location of vapor is unknown and direct venting would expel liquid. Historically, upper stages have used auxiliary thrusters to resettle the tank contents and fix the location of the ullage space in orbit.

VanOverbeke, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS2026

Thermoplastic Matrix Composite Design for Cryotanks Using Multiscale Modeling and Bayesian Optimization

Designing lightweight, robust cryogenic storage tanks is critical for future launch vehicles, in-space propellant storage, and hydrogen powered aircraft. This work presents a multiscale modeling and Bayesian optimization framework for the design of thermoplastic matrix composite cryotanks. Molecular dynamics simulations are first used to determine temperature-dependent constituent properties for candidate thermoplastic matrices, which are homogenized to the lamina scale using NASA’s Multiscale Analysis Tool (NASMAT). These lamina properties, in combination with laminate family generation rules, are evaluated in HyperX structural optimization software to identify stacking sequences that meet all cryogenic load requirements. A Bayesian optimization framework is applied, with HyperX in the loop (via the HyperX API) to efficiently search across material and laminate design variables, yielding an optimized cryotank configuration with significant reductions in design cycle time compared to exhaustive search approaches.

thermoplastics↗
NASA NTRS2005

Auxiliary Propulsion Activities in Support of NASA's Exploration Initiative

The Space Launch Initiative (SLI) procurement mechanism NRA8-30 initiated the Auxiliary Propulsion System/Main Propulsion System (APS/MPS) Project in 2001 to address technology gaps and development risks for non-toxic and cryogenic propellants for auxiliary propulsion applications. These applications include reaction control and orbital maneuvering engines, and storage, pressure control, and transfer technologies associated with on-orbit maintenance of cryogens. The project has successfully evolved over several years in response to changing requirements for re-usable launch vehicle technologies, general launch technology improvements, and, most recently, exploration technologies. Lessons learned based on actual hardware performance have also played a part in the project evolution to focus now on those technologies deemed specifically relevant to the Exploration Initiative. Formal relevance reviews held in the spring of 2004 resulted in authority for continuation of the Auxiliary Propulsion Project through Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05), and provided for a direct reporting path to the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. The tasks determined to be relevant under the project were: continuation of the development, fabrication, and delivery of three 870 lbf thrust prototype LOX/ethanol reaction control engines; the fabrication, assembly, engine integration and testing of the Auxiliary Propulsion Test Bed at White Sands Test Facility; and the completion of FY04 cryogenic fluid management component and subsystem development tasks (mass gauging, pressure control, and liquid acquisition elements). This paper presents an overview of those tasks, their scope, expectations, and results to-date as carried forward into the Exploration Initiative.

Best, Philip J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Gauging Systems Monitor Cryogenic Liquids

Rocket fuel needs to stay cool - super cool, in fact. The ability to store gas propellants like liquid hydrogen and oxygen at cryogenic temperatures (below -243 F) is crucial for space missions in order to reduce their volumes and allow their storage in smaller (and therefore, less costly) tanks. The Agency has used these cryogenic fluids for vehicle propellants, reactants, and life support systems since 1962 with the Centaur upper stage rocket, which was powered with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. During proposed long-duration missions, super-cooled fluids will also be used in space power systems, spaceports, and lunar habitation systems. In the next generation of launch vehicles, gaseous propellants will be cooled to and stored for extended periods at even colder temperatures than currently employed via a process called densification. Densification sub-cools liquids to temperatures even closer to absolute zero (-459 F), increasing the fluid s density and shrinking its volume beyond common cryogenics. Sub-cooling cryogenic liquid hydrogen, for instance, from 20 K (-423 F) to 15 K (-432.4 F) reduces its mass by 10 percent. These densified liquid gases can provide more cost savings from reduced payload volume. In order to benefit from this cost savings, the Agency is working with private industry to prevent evaporation, leakage, and other inadvertent loss of liquids and gases in payloads - requiring new cryogenic systems to prevent 98 percent (or more) of boil-off loss. Boil-off occurs when cryogenic or densified liquids evaporate, and is a concern during launch pad holds. Accurate sensing of propellants aboard space vehicles is also critical for proper engine shutdown and re-ignition after launch, and zero boil-off fuel systems are also in development for the Altair lunar lander.

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NASA NTRS2024

Solid-State Thermodynamic Vent System (STVS) for Control of Cryogenic Propellants

A Solid-State Thermodynamic Vent System (STVS) is a novel Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) technology for spacecraft cryogenic propellant tanks that may reduce boiloff while providing greater control over the propellant condition. By exploiting the vacuum-induced cryocooling (VIC) potential of cryogen-saturated silica aerogel material, an internal STVS heat exchanger (HX) can expel some sacrificial cryogenic propellant to the vacuum of space to produce cooling within the storage tank. This cooling is transferred directly to the stored fluid, thereby reducing boiloff and increasing hold times. Testing proved the effectiveness of the concept by reducing the liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) boiloff rate and tank pressure by roughly 70% and 77%, respectively, during a single pump-down cycle, which sacrificed around 1.8 kg of propellant.

Cryogenic Fluid↗
NASA NTRS2008

Cryogenic Fluid Technologies for Long Duration In-Space Operations

Reliable knowledge of low-gravity cryogenic fluid management behavior is lacking and yet is critical in the areas of storage, distribution, and low-gravity propellant management. The Vision for Space Exploration mission objectives will require the use of high performance cryogenic propellants (hydrogen, oxygen, and methane). Additionally, lunar missions will require success in storing and transferring liquid and gas commodities on the surface. The fundamental challenges associated with the in-space use of cryogens are their susceptibility to environmental heat, their complex thermodynamic and fluid dynamic behavior in low gravity and the uncertainty of the position of the liquid-vapor interface if the propellants are not settled. The Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) project is addressing these issues through ground testing and analytical model development, and has crosscutting applications and benefits to virtually all missions requiring in-space operations with cryogens. Such knowledge can significantly reduce or even eliminate tank fluid boil-off losses for long term missions, reduce propellant launch mass and on-orbit margins, and simplify vehicle operations. The Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Project is conducting testing and performing analytical evaluation of several areas to enable NASA s Exploration Vision. This paper discusses the content and progress of the technology focus areas within CFM.

Motil, Susan M.↗