CN219474422U - Low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane, which comprises the following components: a supercooled liquid methane preparation unit and a supercooled liquid methane filling unit; the supercooled liquid methane preparation unit comprises a liquid methane storage container and a supercooler; the liquid methane storage container is used for storing uncooled liquid methane and is communicated with the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline; the supercooled liquid methane filling unit comprises a supercooled liquid methane storage container, and the supercooled liquid methane storage container is communicated with the supercooler through a liquid methane return pipeline; the uncooled liquid methane flows into the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline to be subcooled, and flows into a supercooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline to be stored; supercooled liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage container flows into the rocket storage tank through the liquid methane filling pipeline to fill the rocket storage tank. The low-temperature propellant filling system can solve the problem that the emission task is stopped due to the crystallization of the supercooled liquid methane.

Description

Low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of rocket filling, in particular to a low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane.

Background

With the development of aerospace technology, the liquid oxygen liquid methane low-temperature propellant is researched and applied at home and abroad more and more rapidly. Because the boiling point temperature of the liquid methane is extremely low, the liquid methane is easy to be vaporized under the action of external heat leakage and resistance loss in the filling process, and a large amount of gas is mixed with liquid to form gas-liquid two-phase flow or fountain phenomenon, thereby influencing the smooth proceeding of the liquid methane filling process. The liquid methane is usually supercooled and filled, so that the situation is avoided. In order to obtain liquid methane with supercooling temperature, the most widely used technology is to use a supercooler to exchange heat and cool the liquid methane. The subcooler generally adopts liquid nitrogen as a cold source to exchange heat and cool liquid methane. The liquid nitrogen temperature is lower than the methane crystallization temperature under normal pressure, so in the process of preparing supercooled liquid methane, the liquid methane is blocked by crystal ice, and the filling process and the emission task are stopped.

In order to solve the problem of terminating the emission task due to crystallization of the supercooled liquid methane, it is particularly important to design a low-temperature propellant filling system based on the prefabricated supercooled liquid methane.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model aims to overcome the defects of the prior art and provides a low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane.

The utility model provides a low-temperature propellant filling system based on prefabricated supercooled liquid methane, which comprises the following components: and the supercooled liquid methane preparation unit and the supercooled liquid methane filling unit. The supercooled liquid methane preparation unit comprises a liquid methane storage container and a supercooler. The liquid methane storage container is used for storing uncooled liquid methane and is communicated with the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline. The supercooled liquid methane filling unit comprises a supercooled liquid methane storage container, and the supercooled liquid methane storage container is communicated with the supercooler through a liquid methane return pipeline. The uncooled liquid methane flows into the subcooler through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline to be subcooled, and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline to be stored. And the supercooled liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage container flows into the rocket storage tank through the liquid methane filling pipeline to fill the rocket storage tank.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane fill line is provided with a fill flow meter and a fill regulator valve. The filling flowmeter is used for measuring the flow of filling supercooled liquid methane into the rocket storage tank. The filling regulating valve is used for regulating the flow of filling supercooled liquid methane into the rocket storage tank.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel is provided with a supercooled inlet pipeline and a supercooled return air pipeline which are respectively communicated with two ends of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel. And the supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is provided with a supercooled liquid methane vaporizer and a supercooled pressurizing stop valve. And opening the supercooling pressurization stop valve, and after the supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage container is gasified by the supercooling inlet pipeline to the supercooling liquid methane vaporizer, carrying out autogenous pressurization on the supercooling liquid methane storage container by the supercooling return air pipeline.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the shell side of the subcooler is provided with a subcooler liquid nitrogen filling line for filling liquid nitrogen thereto and a subcooler liquid nitrogen discharge line for discharging liquid nitrogen therein. The uncooled liquid methane flows into the tube side of the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, is subcooled by heat exchange with liquid nitrogen in the shell side, and flows into the supercooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline communicated with the tube side for storage.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the subcooled liquid methane production unit further comprises a subcooler bypass line provided in parallel with the subcooler. One end of the subcooler bypass pipeline is communicated with the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, and the other end of the subcooler bypass pipeline is communicated with the liquid methane liquid return pipeline. The liquid methane sequentially passes through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, the subcooler bypass pipeline and the liquid methane liquid return pipeline and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container so as to precool the low-temperature propellant filling system.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a supercooling storage tank temperature sensor is arranged in the supercooling liquid methane storage container and is used for measuring the temperature of supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage tank in real time.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline is provided with a liquid outlet regulating valve for regulating the flow rate and a liquid outlet flowmeter for measuring the flow rate.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane storage container is provided with an uncooled inlet pipeline and an uncooled return air pipeline which are respectively communicated with two ends of the liquid methane storage device. The uncooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is provided with an uncooled liquid methane vaporizer and a pressurizing stop valve. And opening the preparation pressurizing stop valve, and after the uncooled liquid methane in the liquid methane storage container is vaporized from the uncooled inlet pipeline to the uncooled liquid methane vaporizer, carrying out autogenous pressurizing on the liquid methane storage container through the uncooled return air pipeline.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel is provided with a methane discharge line, which is provided with a methane discharge shutoff valve. Opening the methane discharge shutoff valve can discharge gaseous methane from the sub-cooled liquid methane storage vessel.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane filling pipeline inlet is arranged at the bottom of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel.

According to the low-temperature propellant filling system based on the prefabricated supercooled liquid methane, saturated liquid methane is subjected to heat exchange and temperature reduction through the supercooler under normal pressure, and the supercooled liquid methane flows into the supercooled liquid methane storage container. After entering the filling flow, the supercooled liquid methane is conveyed to a rocket tank through a liquid methane filling pipeline. According to the low-temperature propellant filling system provided by the embodiment, supercooling crystallization can not occur in the filling process, and the problem that emission tasks are terminated due to supercooling liquid methane crystallization is solved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the scope of the utility model, as claimed.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the utility model and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the utility model.

FIG. 1 is a frame diagram of a pre-made sub-cooled liquid methane based cryogenic propellant fill system in accordance with one embodiment of the present utility model.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1-liquid methane storage vessel, 2-uncooled liquid methane vaporizer, 3-liquid methane liquid pipeline, 4-subcooler bypass pipeline, 5-subcooler, 6-liquid methane liquid return pipeline, 7-supercooled liquid methane storage vessel, 8-uncooled liquid methane vaporizer, 9-methane discharge pipeline, 10-liquid methane filling pipeline, 11-subcooler liquid nitrogen discharge pipeline, 12-subcooler liquid nitrogen filling pipeline, 13-filling flowmeter, 14-filling regulating valve, 15-supercooled pressure boost stop valve, 16-preparation pressure boost stop valve, 17-methane discharge stop valve, 18-liquid flowmeter, 19-bypass pipeline stop valve, 20-liquid regulating valve, 21-liquid outlet stop valve, 22-supercooler outlet stop valve, 23-filling stop valve, 24-supercooled liquid methane storage vessel stop valve, 25-supercooled stop valve, 26-supercooled pressure boost regulating valve, 27-uncooled pressure boost regulating valve, 28-supercooled liquid methane self-boost pipeline, 29-uncooled liquid methane self-boost pipeline, 30-supercooled inlet pipeline, 31-supercooled pressure boost pipeline, 32-supercooled pressure boost pipeline, 33-supercooled pressure boost pipeline, temperature sensor TT 03-sensor temperature sensor TT 02-TT.

Detailed Description

Features and exemplary embodiments of various aspects of the present utility model will be described in detail below, and in order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present utility model more apparent, the present utility model will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the present utility model and not in limitation thereof. In addition, the mechanical components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the structures or regions in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other structures or regions to help facilitate an understanding of embodiments of the present utility model.

The directional terms appearing in the following description are all directions shown in the drawings and do not limit the specific structure of the embodiment of the present utility model. In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present utility model can be understood as appropriate by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "having," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a structure or assembly that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such structure, assembly. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in an article or apparatus that comprises the element.

Spatially relative terms such as "under", "below", "under …", "low", "above", "over …", "high", and the like, are used for convenience of description to explain the positioning of one element relative to a second element and to represent different orientations of the device in addition to those shown in the figures. In addition, for example, "one element above/below another element" may mean that two elements are in direct contact, or that other elements are present between the two elements. Furthermore, terms such as "first," "second," and the like, are also used to describe various elements, regions, sections, etc., and do not specifically address the order or sequence and should not be taken as limiting. Like terms refer to like elements throughout the description.

In describing the present utility model hereinafter, it is possible that in a certain scenario, only "rocket", "carrier rocket", "spacecraft", "space vehicle" or "missile" is used, which is merely for convenience of description, and its meaning is not limited to the specific words used. In general, the rockets, carriers of the present utility model include both space vehicles for carrying satellites or spacecraft or other detectors, and weapons such as various types of missiles, rockets, etc. for carrying military loads, and similar products capable of delivering payloads into the air. When explaining the specific terms, those skilled in the art should not limit the rocket or the carrier rocket to only one of the carrier rocket or the missile according to the specific terms used in the description scene, so as to reduce the protection scope of the present utility model.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present utility model may be practiced without some of these specific details. The following description of the embodiments is merely intended to provide a better understanding of the utility model by showing examples of the utility model.

FIG. 1 is a frame diagram of a pre-made sub-cooled liquid methane based cryogenic propellant fill system in accordance with one embodiment of the present utility model.

As shown in fig. 1, the present utility model provides a cryogenic propellant filling system based on pre-made supercooled liquid methane, comprising: and the supercooled liquid methane preparation unit and the supercooled liquid methane filling unit. The supercooled liquid methane preparation unit includes a liquid methane storage vessel 1 and a supercooler 5. The liquid methane storage container 1 is used for storing uncooled liquid methane and is communicated with the subcooler 5 through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline 3. The supercooled liquid methane filling unit comprises a supercooled liquid methane storage container 7, and the supercooled liquid methane storage container 7 is communicated with the supercooler 5 through a liquid methane return pipeline 6. The uncooled liquid methane flows into the subcooler 5 through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline 3 to be subcooled, and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container 7 through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline 6 to be stored. Supercooled liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage container 7 flows into the rocket tank through the liquid methane filling pipe 10, and fills the rocket tank.

In particular, liquid methane, which is a common combustion agent, has the advantages of no toxicity and no pollution, and has been widely applied to civil and industrial manufacturing industries. The liquid methane as a space propellant has the following advantages: 1) The method has the advantages of more acquisition paths and low production and storage costs. 2) Compared with liquid hydrogen propellant, the density is high, so the methane volume with the same energy is smaller. 3) The combustion products are coking-free, and the engine can be applied repeatedly. 4) About 15% higher than normal temperature propellant. Liquid methane/liquid oxygen is the most widely used group of propellants for recyclable medium and large scale launch vehicles. Because the boiling point temperature of liquid methane is extremely low, the boiling point is 111K at normal temperature, and the liquid methane is easy to vaporize in the filling process. In addition, when the liquid methane is used as a rocket propellant, the thermodynamic state is mostly near the boiling point temperature, the thermophysical performance is obviously insufficient, and the density and the apparent cooling capacity per unit volume are relatively small. When the mass of the liquid methane is fixed and the density is small, the volume size of the propellant storage tank is increased, so that the total take-off mass of the carrier rocket is increased. And the small apparent cooling capacity per unit volume can lead to increased methane vaporization loss. In addition, the flow of the methane supplementing liquid before injection is complex, so that the launch of the carrier rocket is affected.

Typically, subcooling is performed on liquid methane using a subcooler to reduce its temperature. The liquid methane with reduced temperature can reduce evaporation loss in the propellant storage process, avoid the occurrence of the situations, and increase the quality and the apparent cooling capacity of the liquid methane so as to improve the effective carrying capacity of the carrier rocket. The subcooler usually adopts liquid nitrogen as a cold source and is positioned on the shell side of the subcooler, liquid methane flows on the tube side, and the liquid methane exchanges heat with the liquid nitrogen to cool. However, since the liquid methane crystallization temperature is 90K, and the liquid nitrogen temperature at normal pressure is 77K, it is lower than the methane crystallization temperature. Therefore, in the process of preparing supercooled liquid methane, there is a risk that liquid methane crystal ice is blocked, resulting in termination of the filling process and the emission task. In addition to the risk of stopping the emission task due to crystallization of liquid methane in the supercooling process, on one hand, in the current supercooling filling process, liquid nitrogen can only be filled into the shell side of the supercooler after the liquid methane has stable flow, so that the time for obtaining the supercooled liquid methane with stable flow is long, and the time of the emission process is further prolonged. On the other hand, because the supercooled liquid methane is prepared on line in real time in the current filling flow, the liquid methane filling flow corresponds to the liquid nitrogen amount in the supercooler, and if the supercooled liquid methane filling flow needs to be regulated, the supercooled liquid nitrogen amount needs to be regulated on line in real time, so that the methane crystallization risk is higher.

In terms of cost control, in the current subcooled liquid methane filling process, in order to prevent crystallization of liquid methane, the flow of subcooled liquid methane cannot be stopped from the start of the subcooled filling process to the withdrawal of the system. The supercooled liquid methane among other procedures is discharged to a methane combustion system except that the supercooled liquid methane is filled into a rocket storage tank, so that a large amount of liquid methane is utilized ineffectively, and the methane filling cost is increased.

In this example, liquid methane in an atmospheric standard state was stored in a liquid methane storage vessel prior to entering the filling process to provide a propellant for preparing sub-cooled liquid methane. And (3) heat exchange and cooling are carried out on saturated liquid methane under normal pressure through a subcooler, and the subcooled liquid methane flows into a subcooled liquid methane storage container. After entering the filling flow, the supercooled liquid methane is conveyed to a rocket tank through a liquid methane filling pipeline. According to the low-temperature propellant filling system provided by the embodiment, supercooling crystallization can not occur in the filling process, and the problem that emission tasks are terminated due to supercooling liquid methane crystallization is solved. In addition, because supercooled liquid methane is prepared and stored in the liquid methane storage container before rocket launching, the rocket can be directly filled when needed, and therefore the time of the launching process is shortened. The liquid methane outlet pipeline can be arranged at the bottom of the liquid methane storage container and is used for outputting liquid methane to the liquid methane subcooler. The outlet of the liquid methane return pipeline can be arranged at the bottom of the supercooled liquid methane storage container, and the supercooled liquid methane enters the supercooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane return pipeline. The supercooled liquid methane storage container is used for storing supercooled liquid methane. The procedure of preparing supercooled liquid methane by the low-temperature propellant filling system is carried out before entering a rocket launching process, so that the working pressure of system operators in the formal launching process can be reduced, and the launching process time is shortened. And after entering the formal emission flow, supercooled liquid methane does not need to be prepared, and the phenomenon that the emission flow is stopped due to crystallization of a supercooler is avoided.

In addition, in the process of prefabricating supercooled liquid methane by using the low-temperature propellant filling system, liquid methane is not discharged (such as discharged to a liquid methane discharging system), so that liquid methane waste is prevented, and the production cost is reduced.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, an uncooled tank temperature sensor TT01 is arranged inside the liquid methane storage container and is used for measuring the temperature of liquid methane in the liquid methane storage container in real time.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane return line is provided with a subcooler outlet shutoff valve 22 to switch the liquid methane return line on and off.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane fill line 10 is provided with a fill flow meter 13 and a fill regulator valve 14. A filling flow meter 13 is used to measure the flow of subcooled liquid methane into the rocket tank. The charge control valve 14 is used to regulate the flow of charge of subcooled liquid methane to the rocket tank.

Specifically, because the supercooled liquid methane is prepared online in real time in the current filling flow, if the supercooled liquid methane filling flow needs to be adjusted, the supercooled liquid nitrogen flow needs to be adjusted online in real time, and the temperature and the flow of the supercooled liquid methane in the filling process cannot be adjusted rapidly and stably, so that the filling requirements of rockets on the supercooled liquid methane with different flows are not met.

In this embodiment, after entering the launch procedure, the rocket or rocket tank can be directly primed with supercooled liquid methane. And the flow of the supercooled liquid methane injected by the rocket storage tank can be quickly and stably regulated in real time by regulating the opening of the injection regulating valve of the liquid methane injection pipeline, so that the requirements of different procedures in the emission flow on different injection flows of the supercooled liquid methane can be met.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel is provided with a plurality of liquid methane filling lines for supercooled liquid methane filling to a plurality of rocket tanks. The liquid methane filling pipelines are respectively provided with a filling flowmeter and a filling regulating valve.

In this embodiment, the supercooled liquid methane storage container is provided with a plurality of (2 or more) liquid methane filling pipelines, and after the supercooled liquid methane is prefabricated and enters a filling process, the supercooled liquid methane can be filled into each or every stage of rocket storage tanks (such as a rocket primary storage tank, a rocket secondary storage tank or even more storage tanks) at the same time. In addition, the system can respectively control the opening degree of the filling regulating valve of the liquid methane filling pipeline according to the display of the filling flowmeter to regulate the flow and speed of filling supercooled liquid methane into each or each stage of rocket storage tanks, thereby realizing full supercooling filling. The low-temperature propellant filling system can be suitable for filling supercooled liquid methane of rocket storage tanks of different stages.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane filling line is provided with a filling shut-off valve 23 for switching the liquid methane filling line on and off.

In the embodiment, after entering the emission flow, the filling stop valve can be closed to stop the flow of supercooled liquid methane in a parking stage among various procedures of supercooling filling, so that the propellant waste caused by discharging and burning a large amount of liquid methane in the online supercooling filling of liquid methane is avoided, and the cost of a filling system is reduced.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the subcooled liquid methane storage vessel outlet is provided with a subcooled liquid methane storage vessel shutoff valve 24 to control the delivery of subcooled liquid methane to the liquid methane fill line.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel 7 is provided with a supercooled inlet line 30 and a supercooled return line 31, respectively, which are connected to the supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing line 28 at both ends of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel 7. The supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline 28 is provided with the supercooled liquid methane vaporizer 8 and the supercooled pressurizing stop valve 15. And opening the supercooling pressurization stop valve 15, and after the supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage vessel 7 is gasified by the supercooling liquid methane gasifier 8 through the cold inlet pipeline 30, autogenous pressurization is carried out on the supercooling liquid methane storage vessel 7 through the cold return pipeline 31.

In this embodiment, the subcooled liquid methane self-pressurization pipeline subcooled inlet pipeline is communicated with the liquid outlet of the subcooled liquid methane storage container, and the subcooled return air pipeline is communicated with the gas phase of the subcooled liquid methane storage container. The liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is gasified by the supercooled liquid methane carburetor and then enters the supercooled liquid methane storage container, so that the air pillow pressure in the supercooled liquid methane storage container can be increased. The inlet of the supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline can be arranged at the bottom of the supercooled liquid methane storage container. In the process of filling the supercooled liquid methane into the rocket tank by the low-temperature propellant filling system, the liquid methane does not pass through the supercooler any more, and the supercooled liquid methane is filled into the rocket tank through the supercooled liquid methane storage container. In the filling process, the filling flow of the supercooled liquid methane can be adjusted in real time by controlling a filling regulating valve of the liquid methane filling pipeline and controlling the air pillow pressure of the supercooled liquid methane storage container.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a subcooling pressure regulating valve 26 is provided in the subcooling liquid methane self-pressurization line to regulate the amount of vaporization of the subcooling liquid methane and thereby regulate the air pillow pressure in the subcooling liquid methane storage container.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the subcooler is a liquid nitrogen/liquid methane heat exchanger. The shell side of the subcooler is a liquid nitrogen channel arranged in the subcooler and used for liquid nitrogen circulation. The tube side of the subcooler is a liquid methane channel arranged in the subcooler and used for circulating liquid methane.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the shell side of the subcooler 5 is provided with a subcooler liquid nitrogen filling line 12 for filling it with liquid nitrogen and a subcooler liquid nitrogen discharge line 11 for discharging the liquid nitrogen therein. The uncooled liquid methane flows into the tube side of the subcooler 5 through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline 3, is subcooled by heat exchange with liquid nitrogen in the shell side, and flows into the supercooled liquid methane storage container 7 for storage through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline 6 communicated with the tube side.

In the embodiment, the inlet of the tube side of the subcooler is connected with a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, and the outlet of the tube side is connected with a liquid methane liquid return pipeline. The inlet and the outlet of the subcooler shell pass are respectively communicated with a subcooler liquid nitrogen filling pipeline and a subcooler liquid nitrogen discharging pipeline. The procedure of preparing the supercooled liquid methane is carried out before entering a rocket launching process, and the temperature of the supercooled liquid methane can be controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the liquid methane in the supercooler and the liquid nitrogen liquid level in the supercooler so as to obtain the supercooled liquid methane with different temperatures, thereby meeting the requirements of the rocket on different rocket entering temperatures of the supercooled liquid methane and improving the quality of the liquid methane and the carrying capacity of the rocket.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane production unit further comprises a subcooler bypass line 4 arranged in parallel with the subcooler 5. One end of the subcooler bypass pipeline 4 is communicated with the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline 3, and the other end is communicated with the liquid methane liquid return pipeline 6. The liquid methane sequentially passes through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline 3, the subcooler bypass pipeline 4 and the liquid methane liquid return pipeline 6 and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container 7 so as to pre-cool the low-temperature propellant filling system.

In this embodiment, the subcooler bypass line may be a line in parallel with the liquid methane passage in the subcooler. The preparation of the supercooled liquid methane starts, and the liquid methane in the liquid methane storage container flows into the supercooled liquid methane storage container to precool a pipeline sequentially through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, a supercooler bypass pipeline and a liquid methane liquid return pipeline under the action of self liquid level pressure or through a supercooled liquid methane vaporizer.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the subcooler bypass line is provided with a bypass line shut-off valve 19 to switch the subcooler bypass line on and off.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a subcooling stop valve 25 is arranged at the tube side inlet of the subcooler to control the flow of liquid methane into the subcooler for subcooling.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a temperature sensor TT02 is arranged at the upstream of the supercooling stop valve so as to measure the temperature of liquid methane entering the supercooler in the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline in real time.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a supercooling temperature sensor TT03 is arranged at the outlet of the tube side of the supercooler and is used for measuring the temperature of supercooled liquid methane at the outlet of the tube side of the supercooler in real time.

In this embodiment, by observing the value of the supercooling temperature sensor, it can be judged whether the supercooling effect of liquid methane satisfies the demand.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, a supercooling storage tank temperature sensor TT04 is arranged in the supercooling liquid methane storage tank and is used for measuring the temperature of supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage tank in real time.

In this embodiment, a supercooling tank temperature sensor TT04 is provided inside the supercooling liquid methane storage container. By observing the value of the supercooling storage tank temperature sensor, the temperature of supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage container can be monitored to judge whether the precooling effect of the system or the prepared supercooling liquid methane temperature meets the requirement.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane outlet line 3 is provided with an outlet regulating valve 20 for regulating the flow rate and an outlet flow meter 18 for measuring the flow rate.

In this embodiment, the liquid flow meter is used to measure the flow of liquid methane in the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline. During the pre-cooling process, the effluent flow meter reading and the subcooling tank temperature sensor value are observed. When the readings of the liquid outlet flowmeter are stable and the value of the supercooling storage tank temperature sensor is reduced to a set value (such as about 140K), the precooling of the system is finished.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane outlet pipe is provided with an outlet shutoff valve 21 for switching the liquid methane outlet pipe on and off.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane storage vessel 1 is provided with an uncooled inlet line 32 and an uncooled return line 33, respectively, in communication with the two ends of the liquid methane storage vessel, from methane pressurizing line 29. The uncooled liquid methane self-pressurizing line 29 is provided with the uncooled liquid methane vaporizer 2 and the preparation pressurizing shutoff valve 16. After the uncooled liquid methane in the liquid methane storage container 1 is vaporized through the uncooled inlet pipeline 32 to the uncooled liquid methane vaporizer 2, the liquid methane storage container 1 is subjected to autogenous pressurization through the uncooled return air pipeline by opening the preparation pressurization stop valve 16.

In this embodiment, the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurization pipeline is communicated with the liquid methane storage container liquid outlet through an uncooled inlet pipeline, and is communicated with the liquid methane storage container through an uncooled return air pipeline. Liquid methane in the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is vaporized by the uncooled liquid methane vaporizer and then enters the liquid methane storage container, so that the air pillow pressure in the liquid methane storage container can be increased. The inlet of the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline can be arranged at the bottom of the liquid methane storage container.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurization line is provided with an uncooled pressurization regulating valve 27 to regulate the amount of vaporization of liquid methane and thereby regulate the air pillow pressure within the liquid methane storage vessel.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the subcooled inlet line of the subcooled liquid methane self-pressurization line and the uncooled inlet line of the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurization line may be in communication with an additional separate tank storing liquid methane or subcooled liquid methane, respectively. The liquid from the additional independent storage tank is supplied to the liquid methane and is gasified after passing through the supercooled liquid methane gasifier or the uncooled liquid methane gasifier, and the gasified liquid methane is pressurized by the supercooled liquid methane storage container or the liquid methane storage container. The inlet of the self-pressurizing pipeline of the uncooled liquid methane and the inlet of the self-pressurizing pipeline of the uncooled liquid methane can be respectively arranged at the bottom of the additional independent storage tank.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel 7 is provided with a methane discharge line 9, and the methane discharge line 9 is provided with a methane discharge shutoff valve 17. Opening the methane-discharge shutoff valve 17 can discharge gaseous methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel 7.

In this embodiment, the methane discharge pipeline inlet is disposed at the upper part of the supercooled liquid methane storage container, i.e., the air pillow space of the supercooled liquid methane storage container, for discharging gaseous methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage container, such as methane gas generated by the precooling pipeline, to discharge the pressure in the supercooled liquid methane container. The methane discharge line may communicate with a methane discharge system to discharge methane gas to the methane discharge system for combustion. In order to maintain the quality of the supercooled liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel, the gas pillow pressure of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel can be reduced by opening the methane discharge shutoff valve of the methane discharge pipeline of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel during the storage of the supercooled liquid methane, and the supercooled liquid methane temperature can be maintained constant.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the liquid methane filling line 10 inlet is provided at the bottom of the sub-cooled liquid methane storage vessel 7.

In this embodiment, one end of the liquid methane filling line may be disposed at the bottom of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel, or may be in communication with the liquid methane return line, for delivering supercooled liquid methane to the rocket tank.

By using the low-temperature propellant filling system, the pre-prepared supercooled liquid methane and the filling flow of the supercooled liquid methane are as follows:

s01: and precooling the low-temperature propellant filling system.

Before entering a filling flow of a rocket storage tank, liquid methane in a liquid methane storage container enters a supercooled liquid methane storage container to precool a filling system pipeline under the action of liquid methane hydrostatic column pressure or air pillow pressure through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, a supercooler bypass pipeline and a liquid methane liquid return pipeline. And the methane gas generated by precooling is decompressed and discharged through a methane discharge pipeline of the supercooled liquid methane storage container. The liquid methane flow for precooling can be controlled by controlling the opening of a liquid outlet regulating valve on a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline.

S02: preparing supercooled liquid methane.

In the step, after the pre-cooling of the filling system is finished, the liquid outlet regulating valve on the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline is regulated to stabilize the liquid methane flow. And then the bypass shutoff valve is closed, the supercooling shutoff valve at the tube side inlet of the supercooler is opened, and liquid methane starts to pass through the supercooler. And observing a liquid flow count value of the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, and adjusting the opening of a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline liquid outlet adjusting valve. When the value of the liquid outlet flowmeter is stabilized at a set value, liquid nitrogen is filled into the liquid methane subcooler to a certain liquid level height (the liquid level height can be preset) through a subcooler liquid nitrogen filling pipeline, liquid nitrogen filling is stopped, and the liquid nitrogen liquid level height for preparing the supercooled liquid methane temperature is maintained. The liquid methane exchanges heat with liquid nitrogen through a subcooler to cool down to become subcooled liquid methane. And the generated supercooled liquid methane enters a supercooled liquid methane storage container for storage through a liquid methane return pipeline. The generated nitrogen is discharged through a subcooler liquid nitrogen discharge pipeline. In the process of preparing the supercooled liquid methane, in order to maintain the stability of the flow rate of the liquid methane, the opening of a liquid outlet regulating valve of a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline and the method of controlling the pressure difference between a liquid methane storage container and a supercooled liquid methane storage container can be controlled in a combined mode. When the supercooling liquid methane temperature at the outlet of the supercooler is higher than a set value, the liquid methane flow rate can be reduced by reducing the opening of the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline liquid outlet regulating valve. Otherwise, the opening of the liquid outlet regulating valve of the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline is increased, and the liquid methane flow is increased.

S03: and storing the prepared supercooled liquid methane.

In this step, when the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel pressure exceeds a set value, a methane discharge line is opened to reduce the pressure of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel, thereby maintaining the supercooled liquid methane temperature within the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel not to exceed the set value.

S04: and (5) filling supercooled liquid methane into the rocket tank.

After entering the emission process, the device starts to enter the filling process, closes the outlet stop valve of the subcooler, closes the methane discharge stop valve of the methane discharge pipeline, opens the subcooled liquid methane self-pressurization pipeline subcooling pressurization stop valve of the subcooled liquid methane storage container, and starts to pressurize the subcooled liquid methane storage container. Opening a liquid methane filling pipeline filling stop valve, setting a filling regulating valve to an opening value, opening a supercooled liquid methane storage container stop valve, and conveying supercooled liquid methane to a rocket or a rocket storage tank through the liquid methane filling pipeline. The filling flow of the supercooled liquid methane can be controlled by adjusting the opening of a filling adjusting valve of a liquid methane filling pipeline.

Pre-cooling the rocket tank may also be included prior to this step. In the step, the opening of a filling regulating valve of a liquid methane filling pipeline is regulated and reduced, and the rocket tank is pre-cooled and filled with small flow. After the precooling of the rocket tank is completed, the liquid methane filling pipeline is closed to fill the stop valve, so that the supercooled liquid methane stops flowing.

In this step, the rocket tank may be filled with a large flow. And the opening of a filling regulating valve of the liquid methane filling pipeline is regulated and increased, so that the methane filling flow of the arrow-entering supercooled liquid is improved. After the storage tank is filled to the required liquid level, the liquid methane filling pipeline filling stop valve is closed, so that the flow of the supercooled liquid methane is stopped. In the filling stage, the opening of a filling regulating valve is arranged on a regulating fluid methane filling pipeline, and the rocket tank is quantitatively and accurately filled, so that the requirements of different filling flows of supercooled fluid methane in the working procedures of precooling, large-flow filling and supercooling filling of the rocket tank are met.

The above-described embodiments of the present utility model can be combined with each other with corresponding technical effects.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the utility model is not intended to be limiting, but rather is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, alternatives, and improvements that fall within the spirit and scope of the utility model.

Claims (10)

1. A cryogenic propellant fill system based on pre-formed sub-cooled methane, comprising: a supercooled liquid methane preparation unit and a supercooled liquid methane filling unit; the supercooled liquid methane preparation unit comprises a liquid methane storage container and a supercooler; the liquid methane storage container is used for storing uncooled liquid methane and is communicated with the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline;

the supercooled liquid methane filling unit comprises a supercooled liquid methane storage container which is communicated with the supercooler through a liquid methane return pipeline;

the uncooled liquid methane flows into the subcooler through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline to be subcooled, and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline to be stored; and the supercooled liquid methane in the supercooled liquid methane storage container flows into the rocket storage tank through the liquid methane filling pipeline to fill the rocket storage tank.

2. The cryogenic propellant fill system of claim 1, wherein the liquid methane fill line is provided with a fill flow meter and a fill regulator valve;

the filling flowmeter is used for measuring the flow of filling supercooled liquid methane into the rocket storage tank; the filling regulating valve is used for regulating the flow of filling supercooled liquid methane into the rocket storage tank.

3. The cryogenic propellant filling system of claim 1, wherein the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel is provided with a supercooled inlet line and a supercooled return line, respectively, with supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing lines communicating with both ends of the supercooled liquid methane storage vessel; the supercooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is provided with a supercooled liquid methane vaporizer and a supercooled pressurizing stop valve; and opening the supercooling pressurization stop valve, and after the supercooling liquid methane in the supercooling liquid methane storage container is gasified by the supercooling inlet pipeline to the supercooling liquid methane vaporizer, carrying out autogenous pressurization on the supercooling liquid methane storage container by the supercooling return air pipeline.

4. A cryogenic propellant filling system according to claim 1, wherein the shell side of the subcooler is provided with a subcooler liquid nitrogen filling line for filling it with liquid nitrogen and a subcooler liquid nitrogen discharge line for discharging liquid nitrogen therein; the uncooled liquid methane flows into the tube side of the subcooler through a liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, is subcooled by heat exchange with liquid nitrogen in the shell side, and flows into the supercooled liquid methane storage container through the liquid methane liquid return pipeline communicated with the tube side for storage.

5. The cryogenic propellant fill system of claim 4, wherein the subcooled liquid methane production unit further comprises a subcooler bypass line disposed in parallel with the subcooler; one end of the subcooler bypass pipeline is communicated with the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, and the other end of the subcooler bypass pipeline is communicated with the liquid methane liquid return pipeline;

the liquid methane sequentially passes through the liquid methane liquid outlet pipeline, the subcooler bypass pipeline and the liquid methane liquid return pipeline and flows into the subcooled liquid methane storage container so as to precool the low-temperature propellant filling system.

6. The cryogenic propellant fill system of claim 1, wherein a subcooled tank temperature sensor is disposed within the subcooled liquid methane storage tank for measuring the temperature of the subcooled liquid methane in the subcooled liquid methane storage tank in real time.

7. A cryogenic propellant filling system according to claim 4, wherein the liquid methane liquid outlet line is provided with a liquid outlet regulating valve for regulating the flow rate and a liquid outlet flow meter for measuring the flow rate.

8. The cryogenic propellant filling system of claim 1, wherein the liquid methane storage container is provided with an uncooled liquid methane self-pressurization pipeline in communication with both ends of the liquid methane storage device, respectively, with an uncooled inlet pipeline and an uncooled return air pipeline; the uncooled liquid methane self-pressurizing pipeline is provided with an uncooled liquid methane vaporizer and a pressurizing stop valve; and opening the preparation pressurizing stop valve, and after the uncooled liquid methane in the liquid methane storage container is vaporized from the uncooled inlet pipeline to the uncooled liquid methane vaporizer, carrying out autogenous pressurizing on the liquid methane storage container through the uncooled return air pipeline.

9. The cryogenic propellant filling system of claim 1, wherein the sub-cooled liquid methane storage vessel is provided with a methane discharge line, the methane discharge line being provided with a methane discharge shutoff valve; opening the methane discharge shutoff valve can discharge gaseous methane from the sub-cooled liquid methane storage vessel.

10. A cryogenic propellant fill system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the liquid methane fill line inlet is provided at the bottom of the sub-cooled liquid methane storage vessel.