MAE 298 SEMINAR: The Zero-Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) Microgravity Experiments

Abstract: Integral to all phases of NASA’s projected planetary expeditions is affordable and reliable cryogenic fluid storage for use in propellant or life support systems. The Zero-Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) experiments are a series of small scale tank pressurization and pressure control experiments aboard the International Space Station that use a transparent volatile simulant fluid in a transparent sealed tank to delineate various fundamental fluid flow, heat and mass transport, and phase-change phenomena associated with propellant tank management in microgravity. Hand-in-hand with the experiment, a two-phase CFD model for tank pressurization and pressure control is also developed and validated by both microgravity and 1G data. In this presentation, we review some of the experimental results and CFD simulations generated by the first experiment, ZBOT-1, for a pure one-component system to delineate: (a) tank self-pressurization trends and their disruption by boiling in microgravity; (b) effect of high and low residual gravity accelerations on tank pressure and stratification; (c) nonintuitive jet-ullage interaction in space at different Weber numbers; (d) feasibility of zero-boil-off pressure control by subcooled jet mixing; and (e) unexpected depressurization cavitation during subcooled jet mixing pressure control. Preliminary CFD simulations for a two-component system pressurized by a noncondensable gas that will be studied in the second ZBOT-NC (noncondensable) experiment will also be briefly discussed.

Bio: Mohammad Kassemi is a research professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and the director of the National Center for Space Exploration Research at Case and NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, supporting microgravity fluids and combustion physical science research aboard the International Space Station. He is currently the principal investigator of the Zero-Boil-Off Tank experiments that investigate fundamental science issues related to cryogenic fluid management of propellant tanks in microgravity. He has also been PI on 10 other experimental and computational microgravity fluids and materials NRA awards and several human health and bioastronautics projects.

Kassemi was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space from 2015-2023. He was a governing board member of the American Society for Gravitational & Space Research from 2019-2023. He is an AIAA Associate Fellow and member of the AIAA Liquid Propulsion Technical Committee and NASA’s Cryogenic Technical Discipline Team. He has received the 2015 NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Award for his contributions on “the effects of long-term microgravity on human health and on performance of cryogenic propellant systems and materials processing in Space,” the 2019 ISS R&D and Astronautic Society’s Award for “leadership efforts and compelling results leading to a comprehensive theoretical and experimental microgravity foundation for In-Space Cryogenic Storage Tank Design,” the 2019 Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award for “outstanding achievements in microgravity cryogenic fluid management and NASA’s Human Research Program,” and finally the NASA GRC 2024 Silver Achievement Award for “developing and advancing predictive tools necessary for the storage and transfer of cryogenic propellants for space exploration missions.”