The Impact of Vapor Blockage on the Outflow Rate of Screen Channel Liquid Acquisition Devices

Abstract

The outflow rate of screen channel liquid acquisition devices (LADs) is a key indicator of the liquid acquisition capacity, but would be decreased when a portion of its screen is blocked by the vapor. So far, the quantitative research about the consequent loss of outflow rate seems not enough, though it is important and inevitable. In this paper, a modified model by introducing an “available rate” to describe the blocked degree is established to analyze and compare the cases with and without vapor blockage. We found that the loss of outflow rate is mainly decided by the total area of the blocked screen, while the distribution of blockage position barely has any effects. Besides, a “characteristic curve” is proposed to describe the robustness of LAD against blockage (i.e., loss rate of outflow velocity versus total area of the blocked screen). Higher driving pressure, coarser mesh of screen, and higher ratio of length to height of the channel would bring about greater robustness.

Keywords

• screen channel liquid acquisition device (LAD)
• cryogenic propellants
• vapor blockage
• outflow rate
• robustness