Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Laboratory
Cool. Fuel.
Introduction: The need to reduce in-space venting
There has never been a cryogenic rocket stage to fire outside of earth’s gravitational influence. This is primarily driven by a mass/volume trade-off of insulation and active refrigeration which directly dictates coast phase timing due to LH2 boil-off.
Humanity’s most efficient chemical and nuclear space-stage rockets are fueled by hydrogen. Yet, novel system-level Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) is needed to be a ubiquitous fuel used for space transport.
Summary: Advances and links to further reading
B Pedrow “Parahydrogen-Orthohydrogen Conversion on Catalyst Loaded Scrim for Vapor Cooled Shielding of Cryogenic Storage Vessels” School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, 2016.
Ronald M. Bliesner, Jacob W. Leachman, and Patrick M. Adam. “Parahydrogen–Orthohydrogen Conversion for Enhanced Vapor-Cooled Shielding of Liquid Oxygen Tanks”, Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, Vol. 28, No. 4 (2014), pp. 717-723.