Inertial Centrifugal-Based Pre-filter for Spacecraft Life Support Systems on Lunar Missions

Date

7/12/2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

50th International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

The intrusion of planetary dust inside space vehicles on future lunar missions may lead to performance compromises of the cabin air-filtration system. The evasive character of the fine lunar dust could enable the dust to make its way through the seals and barriers of the EVA hatches and become airborne in the cabin. This can result in performance and capacity overload of the filter system. Adequate pre-filtration can substantially reduce the load on the higher efficiency components of the filter system, thereby protecting and extending the life of these components. A particle separation concept, based on centrifugal separation, is being investigated for its application as a pre-filter. The concept has previously been proposed for application in the aircraft engine industry, as means of capturing corrosive dust and salt deposits that may harm the engine. The technique has the advantages of being passive, integrable to HVAC and space vehicle architecture, and has the potential for high degree of particle separation with proper fluid dynamic design. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and particle tracing modeling were used to arrive at an initial design for rapid prototyping and testing. If feasible, the concept can be integrated to the Scroll Filter System which is being developed by NASA to address the filtration demands on long duration spaceflight and surface missions. This paper will describe the modeling results of this concept.

Description

Juan Agui, NASA
Jason Burns, NASA Glenn Research Center
Robert Green, NASA
ICES510: Planetary and Spacecraft Dust Properties and Mitigation Technologies
The 50th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held virtually on 12 July 2021 through 14 July 2021.

Keywords

lunar dust, pre-filter, centrifugal separation

Citation