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Hollow Fiber Space Suit Water Membrane Evaporator Development for Lunar MissionsThe Space Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) is the baseline heat rejection technology selected for development for the Constellation lunar suit. The Hollow Fiber (HoFi) SWME is being considered for service in the Constellation Space Suit Element (CSSE) Portable Life Support Subsystem (PLSS) to provide cooling to the thermal loop through water evaporation to the vacuum of space. Previous work described the test methodology and planning to compare the test performance of three commercially available hollow fiber materials as alternatives to the sheet membrane prototype for SWME: 1) porous hydrophobic polypropylene, 2) porous hydrophobic polysulfone, and 3) ion exchange through nonporous hydrophilic modified Nafion. Contamination tests were performed to probe for sensitivities of the candidate SWME elements to organics and non-volative inorganics expected to be found in the target feedwater source, i.e., potable water provided by the vehicle. The resulting presence of precipitate in the coolant water could plug pores and tube channels and affect the SWME performance. From this prior work, a commercial porous hydrophobic hollow fiber was selected to satisfy both the sensitivity question and the need to provide 800 W of heat rejection. This paper describes the trade studies, the design methodology, and the hollow fiber test data used to design a full
Document ID
20090015361
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Bue, Grant C.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Trevino, Luis A.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Hanford, Anthony J.
(Jacobs Technologies Engineering Science Contract Group Houston, TX, United States)
Mitchell, Keith
(Jacobs Technologies Engineering Science Contract Group Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Report/Patent Number
JSC-18043
09ICES-0328
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Environmental Systems
Location: Savannah, GA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 12, 2009
End Date: July 16, 2009
Sponsors: Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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