Heat transfer and flow studies of the liquid droplet heat exchangerThis paper describes a lightweight, highly effective liquid droplet heat exchanger (LDHX) concept for thermal management in space. Heat is transferred by direct contact between fine droplets (100 to 300 micron diameter) of a low vapor pressure liquid and an inert working gas. Complete separation of the droplet and gas media in the microgravity environment is accomplished by configuring the LDHX as a vortex chamber. A quasi-one-dimensional, two-phase heat transfer model of the LDHX is developed and used to investigate the potential use of the LDHX for both heating and cooling the working gas in a 100-k W(e) Braytoan cycle. Experimental studies on a small scale LDHX chamber, using air and water as the two media, show excellent agreement with the theoretical model.
Document ID
19870034540
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Bruckner, A. P. (Washington Univ. Seattle, WA, United States)
Shariatmadar, A. (Washington, University Seattle, United States)