Analysis of a Stator-Rotor-Stator Spinning Disk Reactor in Single-Phase and Two-Phase Boiling Conditions Using a Thermo-Fluid Flow Network and CFD

Cryogenic liquid propellants are used in rocket engines to obtain high specific impulse. The flow rates controlled by turbopumps that deliver propellant the engine at pressure levels. Due very low saturation temperature of cryogenic propellant, first phases transient operation, which is ambient temperature, its surfaces subject boiling conditions. effect on heat transfer between solid and fluid needs be well characterized order correctly predict cryopump metal temporal evolution necessary amount propellant. With aim benchmarking numerical tools against experimental data, a representative test case was chosen. This consists stator-rotor-stator spinning disc reactor studied under single-phase two-phase approaches represented 1D network solver, where drop calculated correlations, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, carried out with ANSYS Fluent. Both returned reasonable agreement conditions, also thanks use adequate correlations solver typical conditions for CFD simulations. Two-phase contrary more challenging, underpredictions up 20% 80%, respectively. issues ascribable inadequate capture phenomena occurring srs limitations actual implementation model solver.