Direct simulation of melting a cryogenic surface with a two-dimensional axisymmetric turbulent superheated vapor jet
Description
This dissertation presents original research into the melting process of a downward facing cryogenic solid hydrogen surface subject to a two dimensional axisymmetric jet impingement flow of superheated hydrogen vapor. The motivation for the study is to investigate concepts of storing rocket propellants as a solid and rapidly melting the solid for liquid propellant delivery to a rocket engine. The present study considers a more favorable liquid removal arrangement than prior (1970s) experiments which melted solid hydrogen at the bottom of a cryostat This is a numerical study that involves computation fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of four distinct physical phenomena: (1) melting, (2) jet impingement heat transfer (JIHT), (3) multiphase transport, and (4) film breakup/droplet formation. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is used with the V2F turbulence model in a commercial CFD Navier-Stokes solver (FLUENT) to investigate the multiphase nature of melt transport and its interaction with the vapor stream; i.e., the phenomena relevant to effective heat transfer between the vapor and the melting interface. The goal of the research is: (1) to develop a numerical method to study the problem and (2) evaluate several simple configurations to begin investigating relevant phenomena for the purpose of enhancing melting rate. Many options exist for the vapor to interact with the solid surface. The scope of this initial research is limited to a steady jet of single phase superheated hydrogen vapor at fixed jet exit conditions (T = 525 R and Re = 11,000) at a fixed jet standoff ( H/D = 1.0). Condensation/vaporization are not considered. Although film breakup/droplet formation is a phenomenon where two dimensional features evolve into three dimensional events, this phenomenon is approximated as two dimensional to allow a computationally tractable problem for this initial study Calculations are performed validating the numerical method for melting and JIHT against known results. Validation of film breakup/droplet formation is cited in the literature. A numerical method is developed to model the four physical phenomena. Four simple configurations are evaluated and a fundamental understanding is obtained of the multiphase melt transport and vapor interaction