Experimental study on the radiative heat transfer characteristics of individual droplets in space liquid droplet radiators

Space nuclear reactors play a pivotal role in spaceflight. Liquid droplet radiators are essential for heat dissipation. Existing studies focus on the droplet system's operational characteristics. Most of these studies principally regard the droplet system as continuous and homogeneous. Experimental research in this area is limited. This study focuses on the radiative heat dissipation of individual droplets in the space liquid droplet radiator system. A single droplet emissivity measurement model was established, and an experimental platform was built. The emissivity of Dow Corning 705 silicone oil droplets was ascertained as 0.368 with an average error of 7.28 %. A droplet radiative heat transfer characteristics model was also developed and validated with an average error of 1.71 % through experiments. The results substantiate the accuracy of the proposed model, providing theoretical and experimental foundations for the design and performance optimization of liquid droplet radiator systems.