This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Thin Film Measurement Assessment of the VPCAR Water Recovery System in Partial and Microgravity
Technical Paper
2007-01-3039
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
The Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal (VPCAR) system is being developed to recycle water for future NASA Exploration Missions [1,2,3,4,5]. Reduced gravity testing of the VPCAR System has been initiated to identify any potential problems with microgravity operation. Two microgravity testing campaigns have been conducted on NASA's C-9B Reduced Gravity Aircraft. These tests focused on the fluid dynamics of the unit's Wiped-Film Rotating Disk (WFRD) evaporator.
The experiments used a simplified system to study the process of forming a thin film on a rotating disk. The configuration simulates the application of feed in the VPCAR's WFRD evaporator. The first round of aircraft testing, which was completed in early 2006, indicated that a problem with microgravity operation of the WFRD existed. It was shown that in reduced gravity the VPCAR wiper did not produce a uniform thin film [6]. The film was thicker near the axis of rotation where centrifugal forces are small. A thickening of this film could have a negative effect on the heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator and could result in higher than expected specific power consumption during microgravity operation.
In the second round of microgravity tests a potential solution to this problem was tested. This test demonstrated that mounting the feed wiper slightly higher than the axis of rotation of the WFRD disk produced a uniform thin film. This paper presents the results of this reduced gravity testing.
Authors
Citation
Hall, N., Niederhaus, C., Mackey, J., Litwiller, E. et al., "Thin Film Measurement Assessment of the VPCAR Water Recovery System in Partial and Microgravity," SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-3039, 2007, https://doi.org/10.4271/2007-01-3039.Also In
References
- Tleimat, B. 1971 “Performance of a Rotating Flat-Disk Wiped-Film Evaporator,” Publication No. 71-HT-37
- Flynn, M. Borchers B. 2000 “Assessment of the Technical Readiness of the Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal Process,” SAE Technical Papers Series No. 2000-01-2287 Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Environmental Systems Toulouse, France
- Tleimat, B. Tleimat M. Quinn G. 2002 “The Development of the Wiped-Film Rotating-Disk Evaporator for the Reclamation of Water at Microgravity,” SAE Technical Papers Series No. 2002-01-2397 Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Environmental Systems San Antonio, TX
- Quinn, G. Fort J. Tleimat B. Tleimat M. Flynn M. Smith F. 2003 “Development Status of the VPCAR Water Processor Assembly,” SAE Technical Papers Series No. 2003-01-2626 Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Environmental Systems Vancouver, Canada
- Flynn, M. Fisher J. Kliss M. Tleimat B. Tleimat M. Quinn G. Fort J. Nalette T. Baker G. Genovese J. 2004 “The Development of the Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal (VPCAR) Engineering Development Unit,” SAE Technical Papers Series No. 2004-01-2495 Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Environmental Systems Colorado Springs, CO
- Niederhaus C. Nahra H. Flynn M. 2006 “Fluid Dynamics Assessment of the VPCAR Water Recovery System in Partial and Microgravity,” SAE Technical Papers Series No. 2006-01-2131 Proceedings of the International Conference On Environmental Systems Norfolk, VA
- Chiaramonte, F. Joshi J. 2003 “Workshop on Critical Issues in Microgravity Fluids, Transport, and Reaction Processes in Advanced Human Support Technology, Final Report,” NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH