Phase Change Material Heat Exchanger Life TestLow Lunar Orbit (LLO) poses unique thermal challenges for the orbiting space craft, particularly regarding the performance of the radiators. The IR environment of the space craft varies drastically from the light side to the dark side of the moon. The result is a situation where a radiator sized for the maximal heat load in the most adverse situation is subject to freezing on the dark side of the orbit. One solution to this problem is to implement Phase Change Material (PCM) Heat Exchangers. PCM Heat Exchangers act as a "thermal capacitor," storing thermal energy when there is too much being produced by the space craft to reject to space, and then feeding that energy back into the thermal loop when conditions are more favorable. Because they do not use an expendable resource, such as the feed water used by sublimators and evaporators, PCM Heat Exchangers are ideal for long duration LLO missions. In order to validate the performance of PCM Heat Exchangers, a life test is being conducted on four n-Pentadecane, carbon filament heat exchangers. Fluid loop performance, repeatability, and measurement of performance degradation over 2500 melt-freeze cycles will be performed.
Document ID
20090017988
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lillibridge, Sean (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Stephan, Ryan (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Publication Information
ISSN: 0148-7191
Subject Category
Fluid Mechanics And Thermodynamics
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-18106
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Environmental Systems