Propellant tank

A propellant tank is a container which is part of a vehicle, where propellant is stored prior to use. Propellant tanks vary in construction, and may be a fuel tank in the case of many aircraft.

In rocket vehicles, propellant tanks are fairly sophisticated since weight is on a premium.

Rocket propellant tanks

Rocket propellant tanks are pressure vessels where liquid fuels are stored prior to use. They have to store the propellant, while minimizing slosh and particularly when the tank is nearly empty, minimizing vortexing.

Rocket propellant tanks are often constructed of materials such as aluminium alloys, steels or carbon fibre wound tanks.

These kinds of tanks are usually constructed using monocoque construction techniques. Balloon tanks are the most extreme of these, they are held rigid only by internal pressurisation, but are extremely lightweight.

References


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/1/2012. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.