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Solid-State Thermodynamic Vent System for Control of Cryogenic PropellantsA 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 propellent condition. By exploiting the vacuum-induced cryocooling potential of cryogen-saturated silica aerogel material, an internal STVS heat exchanger expels 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.

The primary STVS project objective was to design and build a bespoke STVS heat exchanger that employed aerogel blanket material and perform a ground demonstration of the technology using liquid nitrogen (LN2) as the cryogenic propellant. This demonstration aimed to prove that an STVS can have a positive influence on the tank boiloff, shown through a reduction in mass flow rate out of the system during operation, and exercise control over the tank pressure.

Testing proved the effectiveness of the concept by reducing the LN2 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.
Document ID
20230011320
Acquisition Source
Kennedy Space Center
Document Type
White Paper
Authors
Adam Swanger
(Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida, United States)
Andy Kelly
(Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida, United States)
Bobby Hughes
(Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida, United States)
Gabor Tamasy
(Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida, United States)
Will Reaves
(Noetic Strategies)
Loo Felipe
(Engineering Research and Consulting)
Mai Harrison
(Engineering Research and Consulting)
Donald Payne
(Engineering Research and Consulting)
Colin Mahony
(Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida, United States)
Date Acquired
August 1, 2023
Publication Date
September 1, 2023
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion and Power
Launch Vehicles and Launch Operations
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 295670.01.22.76.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Technical Review
NASA Peer Committee
Keywords
Propellant Production
Storage and Transfer
In space Propellant Storage and Utilization
Launch Vehicle Propellant
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