JPH0549809A - Gas-liquid separator for under-micro gravity use - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a gas-liquid separator for under-micro gravity use when there remains no bubble in the gas-liquid separating mechanism and time gas- liquid interfaces are made even. CONSTITUTION:A gas-liquid separating mechanism 26 where medium liquid 23 and noncondensable gas existing in a vessel 22 are separated from each other and the separated medium liquid 23 and gas are held in a medium liquid holding zone 24 and a gas holding zone 25 installed in the vessel 22, respectively, is provided. The gas-liquid separating mechanism 26 makes the medium liquid holding zone 24 communicate with the gas holding zone 25 and simultaneously is equipped with plural capillary passages 28 whose passage cross-sectional area monotonously increases toward the gas holding zone 25 from the medium liquid holding zone 24 and a communicating passage 30 making the ends placed on the medium liquid holding zone 24 side of the capillary passage 28 communicate with each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator,
In particular, it relates to a gas-liquid separator for microgravity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there has been a remarkable use of outer space, and a larger space structure is being launched or constructed. When the space structure becomes large and the activities in it become complicated and diversified, how to handle the heat generated inside becomes a problem.

By the way, as a heat treatment system for a spacecraft or a space station, a two-phase fluid loop exhaust heat system that transports heat by using a flow of a phase-change heat transport medium such as CFC, ammonia or water is promising. Is being watched.

This two-phase fluid loop waste heat system, typically
It is configured as shown in FIG. That is, this exhaust heat system is a cold plate (evaporator) that constitutes the heat receiving part.
1 and a radiator header (condenser) 2 that constitutes a heat exhausting unit
The vapor line 3, the liquid line 4, and the pump 5 constitute a heat transport medium circulation loop, and the accumulator 6 is connected to this loop.

The medium liquid sent into the cold plate 1 by the pump 5 provided in the liquid line 4 receives heat from various devices, evaporates, becomes vapor, and flows in the vapor line 3 and then to the radiator header 2. Inflow. Here, the vapor is condensed and liquefied to release heat, and is sent to the cold plate 1 again through the liquid line 4.

In order to maintain the temperature of the onboard equipment within the allowable range, it is necessary to keep the operating temperature of the loop within a certain range. This holding is performed by the accumulator 6. That is, the accumulator 6 is a device that adjusts the vapor temperature in the loop by changing the amount of medium liquid in the loop.

FIG. 5 shows the principle of steam temperature control by the accumulator 6. When the medium liquid in the accumulator 6 is pushed out into the loop to increase the amount of the medium liquid in the loop, the liquid amount in the radiator header 2 increases, and the portion blocked by the liquid 7 in the radiator header 2 (hereinafter,
It is called a liquid blocking part. ) 8 increases. When the liquid blocking portion 8 increases, the function of the radiator header 2 as a condenser decreases, and as a result, the vapor temperature in the loop rises. On the contrary, if a part of the medium liquid in the loop is collected in the accumulator 6 to make the liquid blocking portion 8 smaller, the heat dissipation capability of the radiator header 2 is increased and the steam temperature is lowered. The accumulator 6 changes the steam temperature in the two-phase fluid loop based on the above-described principle, and thereby serves to keep the operating temperature, that is, the temperature of the mounted device within a certain range.

In the accumulator 6 that fulfills the above-mentioned role, it is necessary to have a function of taking in and out only the medium liquid and not taking in and out the gas component when the medium liquid is taken in and out of the loop. For this reason, the accumulator 6 for microgravity is usually constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the accumulator 6 separates the vessel 11, the medium liquid 12 present in the vessel 11 and the non-condensable gas component by the action of surface tension, and the separated medium liquid 12 in the vessel 11 in the figure. A gas-liquid separating mechanism 15 for holding the medium liquid holding region 13 set downward and a separated gas component in a gas holding region 14 set upper in the figure in the vessel 11, and the pressure of the gas holding region 14. And a pressure adjusting mechanism 16 for adjusting Then, on the wall forming the vessel 11, the channel 17 is connected to the medium liquid holding area 13.
And the channel 17 is connected to a two-phase fluid loop (not shown).

The gas-liquid separating mechanism 15 separates the medium liquid 12 and the gas component by the action of the surface tension, and the medium-liquid holding region 1
In order to form No. 3, it is usually made of a mesh material 18 having a capillary action, a porous material, or the like.

On the other hand, the pressure adjusting mechanism 16 is of a pressurized gas drive type which comprises a gas supply source for supplying a pressurized gas and a pressure equalizing pipe for equalizing the pressure in the loop and the pressure in the vessel 11. Alternatively, a heat-driving system or the like in which a heating / cooling surface is provided on a part of the inner surface of the vessel 11 and the pressure in the vessel 11 is changed by evaporating the medium liquid or condensing the medium vapor is used.

Accumulator 6 constructed as described above
Works as follows. That is, when the medium liquid is filled in the loop or when the vapor temperature in the loop is increased, the pressure adjusting mechanism 16 controls the pressure in the vessel 11 to be higher than the pressure in the loop. By this control, the medium liquid 1 held in the medium liquid holding region 13
2 is pushed out of the vessel 11 via the channel 17. On the other hand, when recovering the medium liquid 12 from the loop or lowering the vapor temperature in the loop, the pressure adjusting mechanism 16
Is controlled so that the pressure in the vessel 11 is lower than the pressure in the loop. By this control, the medium liquid is transferred from the loop through the channel 17 to the medium liquid holding region 13
Inhaled into.

However, the accumulator 6 for microgravity constructed as described above has the following problems. That is, under microgravity such as outer space, buoyancy does not act on bubbles existing in the liquid. Therefore, in the conventional accumulator 6 in which the gas-liquid separation mechanism 15 is formed of the mesh material 18 or the porous material, the non-condensable gas bubbles 19 are once formed in the gas-liquid separation mechanism 15 as shown in FIG. When caught, this bubble 19 remains as it is. Therefore, when the medium liquid 12 is pushed out, the bubbles 19 of the non-condensable gas may be pushed out of the vessel 11 together with the medium liquid 12. In addition, the medium liquid holding area 13
If the amount of liquid retained in the medium is smaller than the retention capacity of the medium liquid retaining region 13, the positions of the gas-liquid interface 20 become uneven as shown in FIG. 8, and the pressure inside the vessel 11 is changed. In that case, there is a possibility that the inside of the vessel 11 and the loop communicate with each other at a portion where the retentate level is low, the pressure inside the vessel 11 and the inside of the loop are equalized, and the medium liquid 12 cannot be discharged or sucked.

Although the accumulator incorporated in the two-phase fluid loop heat removal system has been described above, the same can be said for the liquid filling and recovering device for microgravity.
That is, under microgravity, unlike the ground, the head pressure due to the gravity of the medium liquid cannot be used. Therefore, when the device is filled with the medium liquid after the assembly is completed, or when the medium liquid is collected from the device at the time of maintenance and inspection, the same gas-liquid separation mechanism as the accumulator described above is used. These devices had the same problem.

[0014]

As described above, in the conventional so-called microgravity gas-liquid separator for separating the liquid medium and the gas by utilizing the surface tension, the separated and held medium is used. When a non-condensable gas is entrained in the liquid, this gas remains in the medium liquid, so that there is a problem that the gas is pushed out of the vessel when the pressure inside the vessel is increased. In addition, since the position of the gas-liquid interface becomes uneven, when the pressure inside the vessel is changed, the non-condensable gas is pushed out of the vessel at the place where the retentate level is low, and the medium liquid is discharged / inhaled. There was a problem that I could not do it. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas-liquid separation device for microgravity, which is provided with a gas-liquid separation mechanism capable of solving the above-mentioned problems.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention separates a vessel from a liquid and a gas present in the vessel, and separates the separated liquid and gas into the vessel. In a gas-liquid separating device for microgravity, which is provided with a gas-liquid separating means for holding the set liquid holding area and gas holding area, the gas-liquid separating means includes the liquid holding area and the gas holding area. And a plurality of capillary passages whose cross-sectional areas monotonically increase from the liquid holding region toward the gas holding region, and a communication connecting the ends of the capillary passages located on the liquid holding region side. And a passage.

[0016]

The plurality of capillary passages are provided so that the cross-sectional area of the passages monotonically increases from the liquid holding region toward the gas holding region. Therefore, the curvature of the gas-liquid interface of the liquid held in each capillary passage monotonously changes in the extending direction of the capillary passage according to the position of the gas-liquid interface in the capillary passage. Therefore, even if bubbles of non-condensable gas are caught in the capillary passage, the force along the passage from the smaller passage cross-sectional area to the larger passage cross-sectional area acts on the bubbles due to the effect of surface tension. .. As a result, bubbles are automatically expelled from the capillary passage into the gas retention area.

Further, since the end portions of the plurality of capillary passages located on the liquid holding region side communicate with each other by a communication passage, the gas-liquid interface of each capillary passage is separated at the time of gas-liquid separation or liquid recovery. Even if the positions are attempted to be misaligned, due to the difference in the capillary force, liquid flows from the capillary passage having a high gas-liquid interface level to the capillary passage having a low gas-liquid interface level through the communication passage, resulting in a gas-liquid interface position. The irregularities of are automatically resolved. Therefore, even under microgravity where buoyancy does not work, gas mixture does not occur, and gas-liquid separation with a uniform gas-liquid interface position is possible.

[0018]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a partially cutaway perspective view of an example in which the gas-liquid separator according to the present invention is applied to a rectangular parallelepiped type accumulator 21, and FIG. 2 shows the accumulator 21 at A- in FIG. A sectional view taken along line A and viewed in the direction of the arrow is shown.

The accumulator 21 is a vessel 22 formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape by a member whose inner surface has very good wettability.
And the medium liquid 23 present in the vessel 22 and the non-condensable gas are separated by the action of the surface tension, and the separated medium liquid is set in the medium liquid holding area 24 in the lower part of the drawing in the drawing. In addition, a gas-liquid separation mechanism 26 that holds the separated gas in a gas holding region 25 set in the vessel 22 at the upper side in the drawing, and a pressure adjusting mechanism (not shown) that adjusts the pressure of the gas holding region 25 Has been done. A channel 27 is provided on the wall forming the vessel 22 so as to communicate with the medium liquid holding area 24, and the channel 27 is connected to a not-illustrated, for example, two-phase fluid loop.

The gas-liquid separation mechanism 26 includes a medium liquid holding area 24.
A plurality of capillary passages 28 whose passage cross-sectional area monotonously increases from the medium liquid holding region 24 toward the gas holding region 25, and the side of the medium liquid holding region 24 of these capillary passages 28. And a communication passage 30 that communicates between the end portions 29 positioned at.

The thickness of the plurality of capillary passages 28 monotonically decreases from the medium liquid holding region 24 toward the gas holding region 25 between the side wall 22a of the vessel 22 and a side wall (not shown) facing the side wall 22a. A plurality of plate materials 31
Are arranged at equal intervals in parallel to the boundary surface direction between the liquid phase and the gas phase. Therefore, each of the capillary passages 28 has a rectangular passage cross-sectional shape, the width of the passage cross section is constant, and only the vertical width monotonically increases from the medium liquid holding region 24 toward the gas holding region 25. It is provided in.

With such a structure, the gas holding region 2
5, the medium liquid 23 is placed at a location distant from the gas-liquid separation mechanism 26.
Even if the non-condensable gas and the non-condensable gas exist in a mixed state, since the inner surface of the vessel 22 has a good wettability, the liquid content of the vessel 2 is small.
2 spreads while wetting the inner surface of 2 and eventually gas-liquid separation mechanism 2
Reach 6. Then, the medium liquid 23 that has reached the gas-liquid separation mechanism 26 is drawn into the capillary passage 28 by the capillary force, and is held in each of the capillary passages 28 and the communication passage 30, that is, in the medium liquid holding region 24. In this way, the medium liquid 23 and the non-condensable gas are separated from each other without any artificial force.

In this case, the curvature of the gas-liquid interface 32 of the medium liquid 23 held in each capillary passage 28 changes monotonically in the direction perpendicular to the boundary surface between the gas phase and the liquid phase. Therefore, even if air bubbles made of non-condensable gas are caught in each capillary passage 28, the action of the surface tension causes
A force acts on the bubbles from the smaller passage cross-sectional area to the larger passage cross-sectional area, and eventually the bubbles spontaneously move from the capillary passage 28 to the gas holding region 25. Further, even if the position of the gas-liquid interface becomes uneven, the capillary passage 28 having a high gas-liquid interface level is passed through the communication passage 30 due to the difference in the capillary force.
Liquid flows into the capillary passage 28 having a low gas-liquid interface level, and as a result, the non-uniformity of the gas-liquid interface position is naturally eliminated. Therefore, even under microgravity where buoyancy does not work,
Gas mixing does not occur, and gas-liquid separation with a uniform gas-liquid interface position is possible. FIG. 3 shows a partially cutaway perspective view of an example in which the gas-liquid separation device according to the present invention is applied to a cylindrical accumulator 21a.

Accumulator 21a according to this embodiment
Is a cylindrical vessel 22 having very good inner surface wettability.
a, the medium liquid 23a existing in the vessel 22a and the non-condensable gas are separated by the action of surface tension, and the separated medium liquid 23a is held in the vessel 22a at the lower side in the figure. The gas holding region 2 in which the separated gas is set in the region 24a and in the vessel 22a at the upper side in the drawing
Gas-liquid separation mechanism 26a held in 5a and gas holding region 2
And a pressure adjusting mechanism (not shown) for adjusting the pressure of 5a. A channel 27a is provided on the wall forming the vessel 22a so as to communicate with the medium liquid holding area 24a, and the channel 27a is connected to, for example, a two-phase fluid loop (not shown).

The gas-liquid separating mechanism 26a is provided in the medium liquid holding area 2
4a and the gas holding region 25a, and a plurality of capillary passages 28a whose passage cross-sectional area monotonously increases from the medium liquid holding region 24a toward the gas holding region 25a, and the medium liquid holding regions 2 of these capillary passages 28a.
Communication path 3 for communicating between the end portions 29a located on the 4a side
0a and 0a.

The plurality of capillary passages 28a include a plurality of cylindrical bodies 33 having different diameters whose thickness decreases monotonically from one end side to the other end side.
And are formed in a concentric array with a constant interval. Therefore, each capillary passage 2
8a has a circular passage cross-sectional shape and is arranged concentrically with each other, and the difference between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of each passage cross-section increases monotonically from the liquid holding region 24a toward the gas holding region 25a. Is becoming Even with such a configuration, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be exhibited.

In each of the above embodiments, the gas-liquid separation device according to the present invention is an example in which an accumulator for microgravity is constructed. The gas-liquid separation device is a liquid transportation device from tank to tank, It is needless to say that the present invention can also be used for a so-called separation device for separating fuel gas and water in a fuel cell system, that is, a so-called liquid filling / collecting device for microgravity.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, when used under microgravity, bubbles are not left in the gas-liquid separation mechanism, and the gas-liquid separation with a uniform gas-liquid interface position is achieved. Can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway view showing an example in which a gas-liquid separator according to the present invention is applied to an accumulator for microgravity.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the accumulator taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway view showing an example in which the gas-liquid separator according to the present invention is applied to another accumulator for microgravity.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a two-phase fluid loop waste heat system.

FIG. 5 is a principle diagram of steam temperature control in a loop by an accumulator.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional microgravity accumulator.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a gas-liquid separation action of the accumulator under microgravity.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a gas-liquid separation action of the accumulator under microgravity.

[Explanation of symbols]

21,21a ... Accumulator, 22,22a
... Bessel, 23, 23a ... Medium liquid,
24, 24a ... Medium liquid holding area, 25, 25a ... Gas holding area, 26, 26a ... Gas-liquid separation mechanism, 2
8, 28a ... Capillary passage, 29, 29a ...
Ends, 30, 30a ... Communication passages.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Ishii 1-1-1, Sengen, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki Space Development Agency Tsukuba Space Center (72) Inventor Keiji Murata, Komukai-Toshiba, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 in the Toshiba Research Institute, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshiro Miyazaki No. 1 Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside the Komukai factory, Toshiba

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gas-liquid which separates a vessel and a liquid and a gas existing in the vessel and holds the separated liquid and gas in a liquid holding region and a gas holding region set in the vessel. In a gas-liquid separation device for microgravity including a separation means, the gas-liquid separation means allows the liquid holding region and the gas holding region to pass therethrough and goes from the liquid holding region to the gas holding region. For use under microgravity, comprising a plurality of capillary passages having a monotonically increasing passage cross-sectional area, and a communication passage for communicating between ends of these capillary passages located on the liquid holding region side. Gas-liquid separator. 2. The plurality of capillary passages each have a rectangular passage cross-sectional shape, each passage cross-section has a constant lateral width, and only the vertical width extends from the liquid holding region toward the gas holding region. Therefore, the gas-liquid separator for microgravity according to claim 1, wherein the gas-liquid separator has a monotonic increase. 3. The plurality of capillary passages each have a circular passage cross-sectional shape and are arranged concentrically with each other, and the difference between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of each passage cross section is from the liquid holding region to the gas holding portion. The gas-liquid separation device for microgravity according to claim 1, wherein the gas-liquid separation device monotonically increases toward the region. 4. The gas-liquid separator for microgravity according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the vessel is rich in wettability.