Wicking of liquid nitrogen into superheated porous structures

Evaporation in porous elements of liquid–vapor separation devices can affect the vapor-free cryogenic propellant delivery to spacecraft engines. On that account, the capillary transport of a cryogenic liquid subjected to evaporation needs to be understood and assessed. We investigate wicking of liquid nitrogen at saturation temperature into superheated porous media. A novel test facility was built to perform wicking experiments in a one-species system under non-isothermal conditions. A setup configuration enabled to define the sample superheat by its initial position in a stratified nitrogen vapor environment inside the cryostat. Simultaneous sample weight and temperature measurements indicated the wicking front velocity. The mass of the imbibed liquid nitrogen was determined varying the sample superheat, geometry and porous structure. To the author’s extent of knowledge, these are the first wicking experiments performed with cryogenic fluids subjected to evaporation using the weight–time measurement technique. A one-dimensional macroscopic model describes the process theoretically. Results revealed that the liquid loss due to evaporation at high sample superheats leads to only a slight imbibition rate decrease. However, the imbibition rate can be greatly affected by the vapor flow created due to evaporation that counteracts the wicking front propagation.