CFD investigation of thermal and pressurization performance in LH2 tank during discharge

Predictions of thermal and pressurization performance in a liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank during liquid discharge is of significance to the design and optimization of a rocket pressurization system. In this paper, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model is introduced to simulate the pressurized discharge event of LH2 tank. The wall region together with the fluid region is simultaneously considered as the computational domain, and low-Re k-epsilon model is applied to account for the fluid-wall heat exchange effect. Liquid-vapor phase change effect is also involved in the model. Comparison of the numerical results with existing experimental data suggests that the CFD model has a good adaptability in pressurization computation. Detailed characteristics, such as pressurant gas requirement, pressure altering history, and temperature distribution inside the tank, can be obtained by the model. The difference of pressurant gas, selecting helium or vapor H-2, may result in the variations in pressure and temperature histories. Pressurization by vapor H-2 supplies a higher pressure and also a temperature rise, which is significant to consider the selection of pressurant gas. The influences of phase change effect and injector structure on pressurization behaviors are also analyzed. The computational results show that liquid-vapor phase change has a slight influence on the pressurization behaviors. Significant pressure decay at the beginning stage of process may occur in the case of no-diffuser injector application since the incoming gas is excessively cooled by cold LH2. The results show that the present CFD model has a good adaptability in the prediction of pressurization behaviors and is a useful tool for the design and optimization of a pressurization system. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.