Effect of baffles on pressurization and thermal stratification in a LN2 tank under micro-gravity

Abstract

Researches on the impact of existing baffles on sloshing suppression of two-phase fluids in storage tanks have been widely conducted in literature. However, few studies focus on the effect of the baffles on self-pressurization or thermal stratification of the fluids in containers. This paper uses Volume of Fluid (VOF) method to simulate the thermodynamic and fluid dynamic behavior of liquid nitrogen in a tank with different baffle structures under microgravity environment. Groups of gravity levels, fill levels and distances, angles and gaps of baffles, are compared and analyzed. Up to 54\% difference in pressurization can be observed by optimizing the baffle structure and metrics, which is significant to achieve the highest performance of storage fluid control in the tank.