The Micro-Gravity Sediment Trap: Passive Filtration for Spacecraft Pumped Fluid Loops

Le résumé fourni par la source

A substantial number of thermal and environmental control subsystems aboard satellites and manned spacecraft, such as the International Space Station, depend on pumped fluid loops (PFLs) for heat and mass transfer. Western spacecraft PFL failures ($\approx$17\% fail) have accelerated research into debris and sedimentation removal from PFL systems in microgravity environments. Active removal of debris from PFL systems requires the use of sieve type (e.g. stainless steel mesh) or porous filtration components, such as carbon or sintered metal filters. Over the lifetime of the spacecraft, these components become clogged with debris, ultimately incurring considerable cost in terms of pressure drop, which can substantially increase the risk of failure. The Micro-Gravity Sediment Trap (MGST) is an innovative, high-efficiency passive filtration device designed to supplement or replace active filter components in spacecraft PFLs. MGST has no bypass lines, or7ifices, or porous media, and as a result, has a significantly lower pressure drop compared to active components. Furthermore, MGST is designed to be a scalable, modular filtration device that can be adjusted for various fluid flow rates, working fluid selection, and overall system size. In this present work the authors chronicle the development of MGST through a combination of experimental measurements and multiphase modeling analyses using Siemens Simcenter\textsuperscript{\texttrademark} STAR-CCM+\textsuperscript{\copyright} computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software.

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