A Sounding Rocket Experiment to Control Boiling by Means of Acoustic Waves

Abstract

One of the most critical issues when considering long-term space 1 exploration missions is the management and storage of cryogenic propellants. 2The exposure of storage tanks to radiation and extreme temperatures implies 3 the need of efficient technologies to counteract their effects on the fuel. A po-4 tentially dangerous effect for spacecraft operations is the generation of vapor 5 bubbles in cryogenic propellants. We present an experimental setup and pro-6 cedure to mature a technology based on acoustic waves to control boiling in 7 microgravity.8

Trade-off analysis of phase separation techniques for advanced life support systems in space

“…Static-active techniques can be used to achieve phase separation with the aid of external forces different to centrifugal. Artificial accelerations may be created by thruster/rocket firings [22,23], or by by electric [24], magnetic [25], acoustic [26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34], or other external forces.…”

“…An acoustic technique for the management of vapor bubbles generated by boil-off in cryogenic fuel tanks in microgravity is currently under development [32,33]. In this approach, bubbles generated at hot spots in the tank are detached by means of controlled acoustic waves and moved to colder regions where they condensate.…”