Numerical simulations of atomization and flash evaporation of cryogenic nitrogen injection

The injection of cryogenic propellants in satellite rocket engines prior to ignition is characterized by very low back pressure leading to explosive flash evaporation. As a first step towards the capability of predicting the complete ignition process, in this paper influence factors on numerical simulations of the injection and flash evaporation of cryogenic nitrogen sprays into a low pressure chamber are analyzed and compared to experiments. Numerical models using an internal heat transfer coefficient for the calculation of energy and mass transfer from/to the superheated droplets have been implemented into ANSYS Fluent.