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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Sorption compressor/mechanical expander hybrid refrigeration

Experience with Deep Space Network (DSN) ground-based cryogenic refrigerators has proved the reliability of the basic two-stage Gifford-McMahon helium refrigerator. A very long life cryogenic refrigeration system appears possible by combining this expansion system or a turbo expansion system with a hydride sorption compressor in place of the usual motor driven piston compressor. To test the feasibility of this system, a commercial Gifford-McMahon refrigerator was tested using hydrogen gas as the working fluid. Although no attempt was made to optimize the system for hydrogen operation, the refrigerator developed 1.3 W at 30 K and 6.6 W at 60 K. The results of the test and of theoretical performances of the hybrid compressor coupled to these expansion systems are presented.

Jones, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Carbon Sorption Cryogenic Regenerator

Liquid-helium refrigerator includes regenerator filled with carbon sorbent made from Saran polyvinylidene chloride. Material results in lower operating temperatures and longer times between maintenance than comparable refrigerators containing other regenerators. Sorbent material machined to various configurations to fit inside cylindrical regenerator can. Configuration chosen with regard to heat capacity, pressure drop, and rate of sorption.

Jones, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Integrated Heat Switch/Oxide Sorption Compressor

Thermally-driven, nonmechanical compressor uses container filled with compressed praseodymium cerium oxide powder (PrCeOx) to provide high-pressure flow of oxygen gas for driving closed-cycle Joule-Thomson-expansion refrigeration unit. Integrated heat switch/oxide sorption compressor has no moving parts except check valves, which control flow of oxygen gas between compressor and closed-cycle Joule-Thomson refrigeration system. Oxygen expelled from sorbent at high pressure by evacuating heat-switch gap and turning on heater.

Bard, Steven↗
NASA NTRS1989

Two stage sorption type cryogenic refrigerator including heat regeneration system

A lower stage chemisorption refrigeration system physically and functionally coupled to an upper stage physical adsorption refrigeration system is disclosed. Waste heat generated by the lower stage cycle is regenerated to fuel the upper stage cycle thereby greatly improving the energy efficiency of a two-stage sorption refrigerator. The two stages are joined by disposing a first pressurization chamber providing a high pressure flow of a first refrigerant for the lower stage refrigeration cycle within a second pressurization chamber providing a high pressure flow of a second refrigerant for the upper stage refrigeration cycle. The first pressurization chamber is separated from the second pressurization chamber by a gas-gap thermal switch which at times is filled with a thermoconductive fluid to allow conduction of heat from the first pressurization chamber to the second pressurization chamber.

Jones, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Laboratory simulation of meteoritic noble gases. III - Sorption of neon, argon, krypton, and xenon on carbon - Elemental fractionation

The sorption of Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe was studied in carbon black, acridine carbon, and diamond in an attempt to understand the origin of trapped noble gases in meteorites. The results support a model in which gases are physically adsorbed on interior surfaces formed by a pore labyrinth within amorphous carbons. The data show that: (1) the adsorption/desorption times are controlled by choke points that restrict the movement of noble gas atoms within the pore labyrinth, and (2) the physical adsorption controls the temperature behavior and elemental fractionation patterns.

Wacker, John F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Sorption Compressor With Rotary Regenerator

Proposed two-stage sorption compressor for cryogenic system features rotary regenerator. At each stage, rotor interacts with stator to provide quadruple regeneration. Contains no valves, and only moving part is rotor, which turns very slowly. Features include less required power and greater reliability.

Jones, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Sorption J-T refrigeration utilizing manganese nitride chemisorption

The equilibrium pressures and compositions have been measured for a system of finely powdered manganese nitride and nitrogen gas at 650, 700, 800, and 850 C for various nitrogen loadings. Pressures ranged from less than 0.02 MPa at 650 C to 6.38 MPa at 850 C. Analysis of the test results has shown that under certain conditions Mn(x)N(y) could potentially be used in a triple regenerative sorption compressor refrigeration system, but the potential power savings are small compared to the increased complexity and reliability problems associated with very high temperature (above 950 C) pressurized systems.

Jones, Jack↗
NASA NTRS1993

Microporous Carbon Disks For Sorption Refrigerators

Slow, carefully controlled pyrolysis found to turn polyvinylidene chloride disks into carbon disks having small pores and large surface areas. Disks exhibit high adsorptivities making them useful in krypton-sorption refrigerators. Carbons made from polyvinylidene chloride have greater adsorptive capacities. Thermal instability controlled and variability of product reduced by careful control of rates of heating, heating times, and rate of final cooling.

Munukutla, Lakshmi V.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Three-stage sorption type cryogenic refrigeration systems and methods employing heat regeneration

A three-stage sorption type cryogenic refrigeration system, each stage containing a fluid having a respectively different boiling point, is presented. Each stage includes a compressor in which a respective fluid is heated to be placed in a high pressure gaseous state. The compressor for that fluid which is heated to the highest temperature is enclosed by the other two compressors to permit heat to be transferred from the inner compressor to the surrounding compressors. The system may include two sets of compressors, each having the structure described above, with the interior compressors of the two sets coupled together to permit selective heat transfer therebetween, resulting in more efficient utilization of input power.

Bard, Steven↗
NASA NTRS1992

Use of sorption technology for treatment of humidity condensate for potable water

This research focused on the testing of the original potable water processor aboard Space Station Freedom that was to produce potable water from the humidity condensate and additional water generated by carbon dioxide reduction. Humidity condensate was simulated by an influent water model 'Ersatz'. The humidity condensate was treated with multifiltration (MF) beds that consisted of a train of sorption beds (referred to as 'Unibed') designed to remove specific contaminants. For the complete simulated MF system runs tested for 100 bed volumes (BV) (volume processed/total column volume), 0.6 percent of the TOC was removed by the SAC/IRN 77 (Strong Acid Cation exchange resin), 39.6 percent of the total organic carbon (TOC) was removed by the WBA/IRA 68 (Weak Base Anion exchange resin), 13.2 percent of the TOC was removed by activated carbon adsorption (580-26), and the remaining sorbent media acted as polishing units to remove an additional 1.6 percent of the TOC at steady state. At steady state, 45 percent of the influent TOC passed through the MF bed.

Ajjarapu, Sundara R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Thermal systems design and analysis for a 10 K Sorption Cryocooler flight experiment

The design, analysis and predicted performance of the Brilliant Eyes Ten-Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE) is described from a thermal perspective. BETSCE is a shuttle side-wall mounted cryogenic technology demonstration experiment planned for launch in November 1994. BETSCE uses a significant amount of power (about 500 W peak) and the resultant heat must be rejected passively with radiators, as BETSCE has no access to the active cooling capability of the shuttle. It was a major challenge to design and configure the individual hardware assemblies, with their relatively large radiators, to enable them to reject their heat while satisfying numerous severe shuttle-imposed constraints. This paper is a useful case study of a small shuttle payload that needs to reject relatively high heat loads passively in a highly constrained thermal environment. The design approach described is consistent with today's era of 'faster, better, cheaper' small-scale space missions.

Bhandari, Pradeep↗
NASA NTRS1995

Better Gas-Gap Thermal Switches For Sorption Compressors

Gas-gap thermal switches associated with sorption compressors of some heat pumps and cryogenic systems designed for higher performance, according to proposal, by introducing controlled turbulent flows into gas gaps. Utilizes convection in turbulent flow to transfer heat at greater rate. Design takes advantage of flow of working fluid. Working fluid also serve as heat transfer medium in gas gap.

Bhandari, Pradeep↗
NASA NTRS1995

Heat cascading regenerative sorption heat pump

A simple heat cascading regenerative sorption heat pump process with rejected or waste heat from a higher temperature chemisorption circuit (HTCC) powering a lower temperature physisorption circuit (LTPC) which provides a 30% total improvement over simple regenerative physisorption compression heat pumps when ammonia is both the chemisorbate and physisorbate, and a total improvement of 50% or more for LTPC having two pressure stages. The HTCC contains ammonia and a chemisorbent therefor contained in a plurality of canisters, a condenser-evaporator-radiator system, and a heater, operatively connected together. The LTPC contains ammonia and a physisorbent therefor contained in a plurality of compressors, a condenser-evaporator-radiator system, operatively connected together. A closed heat transfer circuit (CHTC) is provided which contains a flowing heat transfer liquid (FHTL) in thermal communication with each canister and each compressor for cascading heat from the HTCC to the LTPC. Heat is regenerated within the LTPC by transferring heat from one compressor to another. In one embodiment the regeneration is performed by another CHTC containing another FHTL in thermal communication with each compressor. In another embodiment the HTCC powers a lower temperature ammonia water absorption circuit (LTAWAC) which contains a generator-absorber system containing the absorbent, and a condenser-evaporator-radiator system, operatively connected together. The absorbent is water or an absorbent aqueous solution. A CHTC is provided which contains a FHTL in thermal communication with the generator for cascading heat from the HTCC to the LTAWAC. Heat is regenerated within the LTAWAC by transferring heat from the generator to the absorber. The chemical composition of the chemisorbent is different than the chemical composition of the physisorbent, and the absorbent. The chemical composition of the FHTL is different than the chemisorbent, the physisorbent, the absorbent, and ammonia.

Jones, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Two-statge sorption type cryogenic refrigerator including heat regeneration system

A lower stage chemisorption refrigeration system physically and functionally coupled to an upper stage physical adsorption refrigeration system. Waste heat generated by the lower stage cycle is regenerated to fuel the upper stage cycle thereby greatly improving the energy efficiency of a two-stage sorption refrigerator. The two stages are joined by disposing a first pressurization chamber providing a high pressure flow of a first refrigerant for the lower stage refrigeration cycle within a second pressurization chamber providing a high pressure flow of a second refrigerant for the upper stage refrigeration cycle. The first pressurization chamber is separated from the second pressurization chamber by a gas-gap thermal switch which at times is filled with a thermoconductive fluid to allow conduction of heat from the first pressurization chamber to the second pressurization chamber.

Jones, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Performance Characterization and Simulation of Amine-Based Vacuum Swing Sorption Units for Spacesuit Carbon Dioxide and Humidity Control

Controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) vapor concentrations in a space suit is critical to ensuring an astronauts safety, comfort, and capability to perform extra-vehicular activity (EVA) tasks. Historically, this has been accomplished using lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and metal oxide (MetOx) canisters. Lithium hydroxide is a consumable material that requires priming with water before it becomes effective at removing carbon dioxide. MetOx is regenerable through a power-intensive thermal cycle but is significantly heavier on a volume basis than LiOH. As an alternative, amine-based vacuum swing beds are under aggressive development for EVA applications. The vacuum swing units control atmospheric concentrations of both CO2 and H2O through fully-regenerative process. The current concept, referred to as the rapid cycle amine (RCA), has resulted in numerous laboratory prototypes. Performance of these prototypes have been assessed experimentally and documented in previous reports. To support developmental e orts, a first principles model has also been established for the vacuum swing sorption technology. For the first time in several decades, a major re-design of Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for the extra-vehicular mobility unit (EMU) is underway. NASA at Johnson Space Center built and tested an integrated PLSS test bed of all subsystems under a variety of simulated EVA conditions of which the RCA prototype played a significant role. The efforts documented herein summarize RCA test performance and simulation results for single and variable metabolic rate experiments in an integrated context. In addition, a variety of off-nominal tests were performed to assess the capability of the RCA to function under challenging circumstances. Tests included high water production experiments, degraded vacuum regeneration, and deliberate valve/power failure and recovery.

Swickrath, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Sorption Properties of Aerogel in Liquid Nitrogen

Aerogel products are now available as insulation materials of the future. The Cryogenics Test Laboratory at the NASA Kennedy Space Center is developing aerogel-based thermal insulation systems for space launch applications. Aerogel beads (Cabot Nanogel ) and aerogel blankets (Aspen Aerogels Spaceloft ) have outstanding ambient pressure thermal performance that makes them useful for applications where sealing is not possible. Aerogel beads are open-celled silicone dioxide and have tiny pores that run throughout the body of the bead. It has also recently been discovered that aerogel beads can be used as a filtering device for aqueous compounds at room temperature. With their hydrophobic covering, the beads absorb any non-polar substance and they can be chemically altered to absorb hot gases. The combination of the absorption and cryogenic insulating properties of aerogel beads have never been studied together. For future cryogenic insulation applications, it is crucial to know how the beads react while immersed in cryogenic liquids, most notably liquid nitrogen. Aerogel beads in loose-fill situation and aerogel blankets with composite fiber structure have been tested for absorption properties. Depending on the type of aerogel used and the preparation, preliminary results show the material can absorb up to seven times its own weight of liquid nitrogen, corresponding to a volumetric ratio of 0.70 (unit volume nitrogen per unit volume aerogel). These tests allow for an estimate on how much insulation is needed in certain situations. The theory behind the different processes of sorption is necessary for a better understanding of the preparation of the beads before they are used in an insulation system.

Johnson, Wesley L.↗