Design, development and calibration of HTS wire based LOX level sensor probe

Abstract

For space applications, the weight of the liquid level sensors are of major concern as they affect the payload fraction and hence the cost. An attempt is made to design and test a light weight High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) wire based liquid level sensor for Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank used in the cryostage of the spacecraft. The total resistance value measured of the HTS wire is inversely proportional to the liquid level. A HTS wire (SF12100) of 12mm width and 2.76m length without copper stabilizer has been used in the level sensor. The developed HTS wire based LOX level sensor is calibrated against a discrete diode array type level sensor. Liquid Nitrogen (LN 2 ) and LOX has been used as cryogenic fluid for the calibration purpose. The automatic data logging for the system has been done using Lab VIEW11. The net weight of the developed sensor is less than 1 kg.