Flow and Particulate Transport Modeling of a Lunar Dust Filtration Testing Facility

Lunar landings and outposts will require effective particulate management of lunar dust. A Lunar Dust Filtration Testing Facility is being designed and fabricated at the NASA Glenn Research Center to assess the performance of filters under relevant environments. Computational simulations of the internal flow and particulate transport were performed to guide the design. The paper presents results of flow conditioning to minimize the effects of the vortical flow, emerging from the return loops of the facility, on the particulate transport. Simulations of the flow through an orifice plate placed just downstream of the particle injection point was also investigated. Additionally, the effect of pressure transients associated with the introduction of a jet of supply air which accompanies the particle injection was considered.