This invention relates to a liquid degasser for a space device and more generally to a liquid degasser.
Space propulsion devices, e.g, colloids thrusters, hydrazine fueled arcjets, electrospray thrusters, monopropellant thrusters, bi-propellant thrusters, and the like, often utilize liquid propellant that is delivered to the thruster. If gas is present in the liquid propellant e.g., gas bubbles, the gas can interrupt the flow of fuel, resulting in a stall or loss of control of the space device. Other space devices, such as space based power systems, e.g., fuel cells, cooling loops, and the like, similarly require the liquid therein to be free of gas. Additionally, an environmental gas scrubber, e.g., a CO2 scrubber for an outer space life support system that uses liquid to absorb ambient gas requires the removal of trapped gas from the re-condensed liquid.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a liquid degasser for a space device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a liquid degasser for a space device which efficiently removes gas from a liquid.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a liquid degasser which prevents stalls and loss of control of a space propulsion device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a liquid degasser which removes gas from a liquid of an environmental life support system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a liquid degasser for removing gas from a liquid.
The subject invention results from the realization that a liquid degasser for a space device which efficiently removes gas from a liquid is effected, in one embodiment, with a gas permeable material which contacts a flow of liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side such that the gas permeable material allows a gas in the liquid to diffuse from the liquid to the vacuum, resulting in removal of the gas from the liquid.
The subject invention, however, in other embodiments, need not achieve all these objectives and the claims hereof should not be limited to structures or methods capable of achieving these objectives.
This invention features a liquid degasser for a space device including a gas permeable material configured for contact with a flow of liquid to be degassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the liquid propellant to diffuse to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid.
In one embodiment, the gas permeable material may be configured as a tube. The flow of liquid propellant may be located inside the tube and the vacuum may be located outside the tube. The flow of liquid propellant may be located outside the tube and the vacuum may be located inside the tube. The gas permeable material may be configured as a membrane. The flow of liquid propellant may be located on one side of the membrane and the vacuum may be located on the other side of the membrane. The tube may be located upstream of the space propulsion device. The tube may be disposed inside a manifold of the space propulsion device. The membrane may be disposed inside a manifold of the space propulsion device. A porous powder medium and may be disposed in the manifold proximate the vacuum. The space propulsion device may be chosen from the group consisting of a colloid thruster, an arcjet, electrospray thruster, a monopropellant thruster, and a bi-propellant thruster, a cooling loop of a space based power system, a fuel cell of a space based power system, and an environmental gas scrubber. The gas permeable material may include an amorphous fluoropolymer. The amorphous fluoropolymer may include TEFLON® AF. The gas permeable material may include a polymer comprising silicon and/or fluorine. The polymer may include a polymer chosen from the group consisting of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly (1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) and poly (tetrafluoroethylene) derivatives. The liquid may be a propellant.
This invention also features a liquid degasser for a space device including a gas permeable material configured as a tube for contact with a liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the liquid to diffuse from the liquid to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid.
This invention further features a liquid degasser for a space propulsion device including a gas permeable material configured as a membrane for contact with a liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the liquid to diffuse from the liquid to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid.
This invention also features a liquid degasser including a gas permeable material configured as a membrane for contact with a liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the liquid to diffuse from the liquid to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid propellant.
In one embodiment, the gas permeable material may be configured as a tube. The liquid may include a propellant. The flow of liquid propellant may be located inside the tube and the vacuum may be located outside the tube. The flow of liquid propellant may be located outside the tube and the vacuum may be located inside the tube. The gas permeable material may be configured as a membrane. The flow of liquid propellant may be located on one side of the membrane and the vacuum may be located on the other side of the membrane. The tube may be located upstream of a space device. The tube may be disposed inside a manifold of a space device. The membrane may be inside a manifold of the space device. A porous powder medium and may be disposed in the manifold proximate the vacuum. The liquid de-gasser may be configured for use with a space device chosen from the group consisting of a colloid thruster, an arcjet, and electrospray thruster, a monopropellant thruster, a bi-propellant thruster, a cooling loop of a space based power system, and a fuel cell of a space based power system and an environmental gas scrubber. The gas permeable material may include an amorphous fluoropolymer. The amorphous fluoropolymer may include TEFLON® AF. The gas permeable material may include a polymer comprising silicon and/or fluorine. The polymer may include a polymer chosen from the group consisting of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly (1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) and poly (tetrafluoroethylene) derivatives. The liquid may include a propellant.
This invention also features a liquid degasser including a gas permeable material configured as a tube for contact with a liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the liquid to diffuse to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid.
This invention further features a liquid degasser including a gas permeable material configured as a membrane for contact with a liquid to be de-gassed on one side and a vacuum on the other side, and wherein the gas permeable material allows gas in the to diffuse to the vacuum to remove the gas from the liquid.
Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which:
Aside from the preferred embodiment or embodiments disclosed below, this invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Thus, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. If only one embodiment is described herein, the claims hereof are not to be limited to that embodiment. Moreover, the claims hereof are not to be read restrictively unless there is clear and convincing evidence manifesting a certain exclusion, restriction, or disclaimer.
There is shown in
Further details of one example of gas permeable material 12 which includes a polymer comprising silicon and/or fluorine is disclosed in “Gas and vapor transport properties of amorphous perfluorinated copolymer membranes based on 2,2-bistrifluoromethyl-4,5-difluoro-1,3-dioxole/tetrafluoroethylene”, Pinnau et al., Journal of Membrane Science, 109, 125-133, (1996), incorporated by reference herein. In this example, gas permeable membrane 12 is configured as tube 15. Gas permeable material 12 is highly permeable to gas in a flow of liquid 14, but is not permeable to liquid 14. Flow of liquid 14 is typically pressurized. Vacuum 18 may be provided by a pump or similar means as known by those skilled in the art or may be located in outer space. The result is gas in liquid 14 diffuses from liquid 14 on side 16 of material 12 to vacuum 18 on side 20 to effectively and efficiently remove gas from liquid 14. Exemplary gas which may be removed from liquid 14 include, inter alia, water vapor, CO2, CO, N2, O2, hydrocarbon vapors, and the like.
In one embodiment, liquid 14 degasser 10 may be employed with space device 40,
In another embodiment, liquid degasser 10 may be employed with a space device such as an environmental gas scrubber 140, e.g., a CO2 gas scrubber for an outer space life support system or other similar type environmental scrubbers. In this example, environmental gas scrubber 140 includes reservoir 80 of liquid 14′, e.g., an ionic liquid, such as an EMI-Im propellant (C8H11F6N3O4S2). Colloids thruster 82 coupled to reservoir 80 generates electrospray 84 which is a fine mist of ionic liquid 14′. Electrospray 84 captures ambient gas, e.g., CO2 indicated at 83, in ambient atmosphere 83. Electrospray collector 86 re-condenses electrospray 84 to an ionic liquid in line 88 which is now infested with CO2 gas. The CO2 infested ionic liquid in line 84 proceeds to liquid degasser 10 with tube 15 made of gas permeable membrane 12, similar as discussed above with reference to
In another design, liquid degasser 10a,
In one design of this invention, liquid degasser 10a may be employed within space vehicle 40,
In another embodiment of this invention, liquid degasser, 10b,
In another embodiment, liquid degasser 10b may be employed with space device 40,
Although specific features of the invention are shown in some drawings and not in others, this is for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the invention. The words “including”, “comprising”, “having”, and “with” as used herein are to be interpreted broadly and comprehensively and are not limited to any physical interconnection. Moreover, any embodiments disclosed in the subject application are not to be taken as the only possible embodiments. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims.
In addition, any amendment presented during the prosecution of the patent application for this patent is not a disclaimer of any claim element presented in the application as filed: those skilled in the art cannot reasonably be expected to draft a claim that would literally encompass all possible equivalents, many equivalents will be unforeseeable at the time of the amendment and are beyond a fair interpretation of what is to be surrendered (if anything), the rationale underlying the amendment may bear no more than a tangential relation to many equivalents, and/or there are many other reasons the applicant can not be expected to describe certain insubstantial substitutes for any claim element amended.
This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/833,345, filed Jul. 26, 2006, incorporated by reference herein.
This invention was developed with U.S. Air Force support under Contract Nos. NAS7-1407/Subcontract No. 1247199; FA8650-04-C-2504; and HQ0006-05-C-7235.
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