August 27, 2019 - Valcor Engineering Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of fluid control components and subsystems, clutches, brakes & OBIGGS systems, is proud to present their latest white paper from the Aerospace Group, titled “Comparison of Surge Pressure Mitigation Devices for Use in Propellant Feedlines During a Priming Event. ” The paper was written by Vitor Cardoso, Rich Kelly and Yuri Gerasimov from Valcor’s Aerospace Engineering Department.
The priming of a liquid propellant feed system can create surge pressures that can be damaging to the system. In the past, spacecraft have used flow restrictions such as orifices and venturis. The addition of such restrictions can cause significant pressure loss during thruster firings. This paper will discuss a new approach, which will be to install a flow limiter in the propellant line. Such a device would sense an abnormally high flow, and close so that the orifice size is reduced.
This would limit the flow velocity, thus reducing the pressure surge. It would then return to its full open position during nominal flow, thus not producing any excess pressure drop during normal operation. This paper presents a trade study that compares four devices: an orifice, a venturi, a flow fuse, and a flow fuse with a dashpot (slow closing).
