Gas Bubble Dissolution Within the Thermal Control Loop of the Exploration Portable Life Support Subsystem
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Abstract
The Exploration Portable Life Support System (xPLSS) contains a thermal control loop intended to remove waste heat from the avionics and the crewmember. This waste heat is removed through the Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) which utilizes hollow-fiber membrane technology to evaporate the heat into space when exposed to vacuum. The hollow fibers also serve as a degasser for any trapped gasses in the loop (including gasses dissolved into the fluid). This paper examines the scenario in which gasses are trapped in such a manner that they dissolve into the loop (instead of traveling with the fluid to the fibers) and the time required for this dissolution. Analogous relations between heat, mass, and diffusion transfer are applied in order to examine the effect that the size and surface area of the bubble exposed to the fluid, pressure, and fluid velocity have on the dissolution time.
Description
ICES402: Extravehicular Activity: PLSS Systems
The proceedings for the 2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems were published from July 31, 2020. The technical papers were not presented in person due to the inability to hold the event as scheduled in Lisbon, Portugal because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.