Risk reduction of tank explosion based on passivation of unusable propellant residues

Abstract

To reduce the risk of explosion of propellant tanks of expended spacecraft and launch vehicles with liquid rocket engines in orbit, as well as in case of emergency situation, for example, loss of orientation, the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee recommends passivation measures, including the discharge of residual liquid propellant and pressurant gas. In ANSYS-Fluent program complex possible initial positions of liquid propellant residues in a spherical tank at its rotation under conditions of low gravitational fields are determined. The values of liquid propellant residues depending on their initial position in the spherical tank at opening of the drain line for discharge of gas–liquid mixture into the ambient space are determined. The concept of formation of two-phase flows of liquid propellant on the example of the spherical tank at tangential entry of compressed gas is offered. The relationship between the number of gas inlet points and the effectiveness of the developed method (expressed as the ratio of the mass of expelled liquid propellant to the mass of gas expended) is demonstrated. For instance, the use of 2 gas inlet points achieves an efficiency of up to 30 %, while employing 3 gas inlet points increases it to 89 %.