Condensate Separator for Microgravity Conditions (COSMIC) for Two-Phase Separation

Paragon has developed a COndensate Separator for MIcrogravity Conditions (COSMIC) technology that harnesses rotational inertia to continuously separate the liquid and gas phases from a high flow, high void fraction mixed-phase working fluid in a compact, low-power device. The target application is the separation of condensate from the full air flow exiting a condensing heat exchanger (CHX) in the Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) on the International Space Station (ISS), though applications for the technology range from two-phase heat transport to climate control. Discussed here is the development of the COSMIC technology, a modular testbed designed for COSMIC evaluation, and the results of development testing. Testing utilized an adiabatic airflow with condensate injection via a liquid droplet needle constellation upstream of the separator which allowed Paragon to demonstrated proof of concept. Testing was performed in an adverse orientation to gravity. We evaluated several vane geometries which demonstrate the technology is effective at our test conditions of 4 lbm/hr of water condensate production in an air flow of 250 CFM. Power required for operation ranged from 7 W to ~30 W while pressure drop ranged from <<0.1 inH2O to 1 inH2O depending on vane geometry.