Mechanism of transient phase transition in liquid oxygen with different absorbent media
Yanbing Wang*, Xue Li, Dairui Fu, Kangcheng Li, Dongchen Wang, Haitao Le, Linsheng Zhao, Chuanhao Lv, Yuanyuan Liu, Bo Xu, Zungang Liu, Xiao Wang
Deep Resources Engineering. 2026, 3(2): 100235. 
doi.org10.1016j.deepre.2025.100235.pdf
Abstract: This study captures transient phase change reaction images of dual liquid oxygen charges with different absorbent media in the same frame using a high-speed camera. Based on grayscale image temporal features, the transient phase change reaction process of liquid oxygen charges with different media is divided into three stages: initial combustion, gasification expansion, and turbulent dissipation. By inverting the relative velocity and temperature fields from grayscale images, the differences in phase change processes among various absorbent media are analyzed, exploring the characteristic differences of absorbent media with different fiber structures across reaction stages. The study reveals that tissue paper, as a porous short-fiber material, releases energy steadily, while cotton, with its dense long-fiber structure, exhibits concentrated energy release with a longer time delay due to lower permeability. Under identical initiation times, tissue paper shows a more uniform reaction velocity distribution compared to cotton, which produces transient high-speed points. The phase change uniformity of tissue paper is significantly higher than that of cotton, indicating that the short-fiber structure of tissue paper has a superior liquid oxygen adsorption capacity compared to cotton. Although cotton generates higher local pressure, the uneven adsorption of liquid oxygen leads to a significantly lower energy utilization efficiency and non-uniform energy release. As a potential indicator reflecting rock-breaking performance, this difference in energy utilization demonstrates that the liquid oxygen charge with cotton as the absorbent media exhibits inferior potential rock-breaking performance compared to that using toilet paper as the absorbent media.
Highlights:
• Innovation in Observation Technology: A high-speed camera is used to capture transient phase change reaction images of dual liquid oxygen charges with different absorbent media in the same frame, enabling synchronous visual observation of phase change processes under multiple working conditions.
• Division of Process Stages: Based on the temporal features of grayscale images, the transient phase change reaction process of liquid oxygen charges with different media is clearly divided into three stages: initial combustion, gasification expansion, and turbulent dissipation, providing a clear framework for phase change mechanism analysis.
• Multi-Physical Field Inversion and Analysis: By inverting the relative velocity and temperature fields from grayscale images, the characteristic differences of absorbent media with different fiber structures across reaction stages are explored.
Keywords: Absorbent media; Liquid oxygen transient phase transition; High-speed photography; Vaporization-expansion; Fiber structure
Cite: Wang, Y.B.; Li, X.; Fu, D.R.; Li, K.C.; Wang, D.C.; Le, H.T.; Zhao, L.S.; Lv, C.H.; Liu, Y.Y.; Xu, B.; Liu, Z.G.; Wang, X., Mechanism of transient phase transition in liquid oxygen with different absorbent media, Deep Resources Engineering 2026, 3 (2), 100235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deepre.2025.100235
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