JPH08155201A - Droplet evaporator for space shuttle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a droplet evaporator for a space shuttle for evaporating droplets perfectly. CONSTITUTION: A swirl flow is added to gas 4 flowed from a gas inlet 14 into an evaporator main body 16 through a droplet separation passage 23 formed by a helical guide plate 24, and droplets in the gas 4 are collected on an inner peripheral wall of the evaporator main body 16 by centrifugal force and heat exchanged with a high temperature fluid 26 flowing in a high temperature fluid passage 25 formed on the outer periphery of the evaporator 16 to accelerate evaporation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a droplet evaporator for spacecraft.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a spacecraft such as a space shuttle, it is necessary to dissipate the heat generated from each device such as a control device and a drive device provided inside into space or the like. A thermal control system such as a liquid two-phase loop is provided.

A fluid such as a refrigerant (for example, water) used in the above thermal control system is a valuable resource brought from the ground, and it is desirable to repeatedly use it in outer space as much as possible. On the other hand, in the case of a space shuttle that is returning to the ground, the fluid such as the refrigerant may be completely consumed or the residual fluid may be discharged to the outside of the system in order to reduce the loading weight. Is desirable.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a gas-liquid two-phase loop provided for discharging heat generated inside to the outside (outer space) in a space shuttle or the like. A liquid 1 is an evaporator 2 such as a cold plate. The heat is removed from the heat source 3 such as a control device such as a space shuttle or a driving device to cool the space by sending the heat to the device. Heat source 3
The gas 4 formed by evaporating the liquid 1 that has been cooled is sent to a condenser 5 such as a radiator, and is condensed and liquefied by releasing heat to outer space in the condenser 5 to become the liquid 1 again. The liquid is sent to the evaporator 2 by the liquid sending pump 6.

FIG. 6 shows another example of a gas-liquid two-phase loop in a space shuttle, such as a liquid (water) 1 in a water storage tank 7.
Is sprayed into the inside of a water evaporator 10 such as a water spray boiler via a liquid amount control valve 8 and a spray nozzle 11 controlled by a controller 9, and introduced into the water evaporator 10 via a power oil loop line 12. The heat exchange is performed with the high temperature power oil used in the drive unit, and the gas (vapor) 4 evaporated by cooling the power oil is discharged to the outer space through the exhaust unit 13. It was something I did.

[0006]

As described above, the liquid 1
When the equipment cools the equipment (heat source 3) and evaporates,
Part of the liquid 1 remains as droplets without being evaporated, and gas 4
It is easy for the liquid droplet mixed gas 4a in which the liquid droplets have diffused into the mixed gas 4a.

When the gas 4 is the droplet mixed gas 4a, the droplets can be naturally separated on the ground by gravity, but in a microgravity environment such as outer space, gravity hardly acts, so The droplets in the diffused state are not separated from the droplet mixed gas, and the diffused state is continued.

However, in the vapor-liquid two-phase loop evaporator 2 according to the above-mentioned FIG. 5, the droplet mixed gas 4a generated when the liquid 1 is vaporized is generated in the flow passage near the outlet of the evaporator 2. This causes a problem that the liquid droplets are attached to the inner peripheral wall and the flow of the gas 4 is hindered.

Further, in the gas-liquid two-phase loop according to FIG. 6, liquid droplets remain in the exhaust system after the water evaporator 10 and the liquid 1 cannot be completely discharged from the space shuttle or the like. Occurs.

In order to solve these problems, research on a droplet evaporator is in progress, but the equipment used in outer space is small and lightweight, and has a small or no driving energy. Since it is required that the operation is reliable and the occurrence of failures is small, an effective droplet evaporator that can meet such demand has not been proposed yet.

In view of the above situation, the present invention uses a centrifugal force generated by a swirling flow to separate gas and liquid, and the separated droplets can be completely evaporated by exchanging heat with a high temperature fluid. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a droplet evaporator for a spacecraft.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a conical portion having a gas inlet on one end side and a gas outlet on the other end side, and having a diameter gradually increasing toward the gas outlet on the gas inlet side. A hollow evaporator main body is provided, and inside the evaporator main body, a gas passage space extends from the vicinity of the gas inlet toward the gas outlet along the axis of the evaporator main body and between the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator main body. A flow path forming member capable of forming a gas, a spiral guide plate that forms a passage for droplet separation is fixedly provided in the gas passage space, and a high temperature fluid that allows a high temperature fluid to circulate around the outer periphery of the evaporator body The present invention relates to a droplet evaporator for a spacecraft, which is characterized in that a fluid channel is formed.

In this case, the end face on the gas outlet side of the evaporator body may be formed as a droplet inflow prevention wall projecting toward the gas inlet so that the diameter thereof gradually decreases.

[0014]

The operation of the present invention is as follows.

The gas flowing from the gas inlet into the evaporator body is added with a swirling flow through a droplet separating passage formed by a spiral guide plate, and the droplets in the gas are evaporated by centrifugal force. Evaporation is promoted by exchanging heat with a high-temperature fluid that is collected on the inner peripheral wall of the main body of the evaporator and flows in a high-temperature fluid passage provided on the outer periphery of the evaporator main body.

Droplets that have reached the gas outlet without being evaporated are prevented from being discharged by the droplet inflow prevention wall formed at the gas outlet.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are sectional views showing the outline of one embodiment of the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present invention.

A gas inlet 14 is provided at one end of the gas flow path in the gas-liquid two-phase loop provided in the spacecraft.
A hollow evaporator body 16 having a gas outlet 15 located on the same axis as the gas inlet 14 is provided on the other end side.

The evaporator main body 16 is provided with a conical portion 17 having a diameter gradually increasing toward the gas outlet 15 on the gas inlet 14 side, and a conical portion 1 on the gas outlet 15 side via a flange 18.
7, a conical liquid drop inflow prevention wall 20 having a cylindrical portion 19 connected to the cylindrical portion 19 and protruding toward the gas inlet 14 so as to surround the gas outlet 15 at the other end surface of the cylindrical portion 19. Are formed.

Inside the evaporator main body 16, the flow path forming member 2 has a conical shape corresponding to the conical portion 17 on one end side and a cylindrical shape corresponding to the cylindrical portion 19 on the other end side.
1 is disposed concentrically with the evaporator main body 16 and the evaporator main body 1
A gas passage space 22 is formed between the inner peripheral wall of 6 and the outer peripheral surface of the flow path forming member 21.

A spiral guide plate 24 is provided in the gas passage space 22.
Is provided to form the droplet separating passage 23.

On the outer periphery of the evaporator body 16, a high temperature fluid 26 such as power oil used in a drive unit provided in the spacecraft is provided.
The high temperature fluid flow path 25 for circulating

The high temperature fluid passage 25 is in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the evaporator body 16 and the high temperature fluid passage 25 itself is in close contact with each other, from the gas outlet 15 side to the gas inlet 14 side of the evaporator body 16. Try to wrap it tightly.

A high temperature fluid passage 25 itself may be formed by forming a jacket on the outer peripheral portion of the evaporator body 16.

Next, the operation will be described.

A droplet mixed gas 4a mixed with droplets, which flows through a gas flow path of a thermal control system such as a gas-liquid two-phase loop in a spacecraft, is introduced from the gas inlet 14 into the inside of the evaporator body 16. Then, the droplet mixed gas 4a enters the gas passage space 22 whose diameter gradually increases, and flows into the spiral droplet separation passage 23 formed by the spiral guide plate 24 from the gas passage space 22. Then a swirl flow is added.

As a result of the centrifugal force generated by this swirling flow acting on the droplets in the droplet mixed gas 4a, the droplets are forcibly collected near the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator main body 16 and the evaporator main body 16
Moving along the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator, or alternatively the evaporator body 1
It is in a state of being attached to the inner peripheral wall of 6.

Then, the droplets attached to the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator body 16 exchange heat with the high temperature fluid 26 flowing in the high temperature fluid passage 25 wound around the outer periphery of the evaporator body 16. , The evaporation is promoted to change to the gas 4, and the gas 4 flows out of the system through the gas outlet 15.

The droplets that have reached the gas outlet 15 without being evaporated are the droplet inflow prevention walls 20 formed at the gas outlet 15 portion.
Is prevented from being discharged as it is.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the droplet mixed gas 4a is introduced into the spiral droplet separating passage 23 formed inside the hollow evaporator main body 16 and the droplet mixed gas 4a is introduced.
A swirl flow is generated in the liquid, the centrifugal force by the swirl flow is applied to the liquid droplets in the liquid droplet mixed gas 4a to separate from the gas 4, and the liquid flows in the high-temperature fluid passage 25 wound around the evaporator body 16. Since it is formed to exchange heat with the high temperature fluid 26,
It is possible to effectively evaporate the droplets in the droplet mixed gas 4a that move along the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator body 16 or that adhere to the inner peripheral wall.

Therefore, if the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present embodiment is applied to the outlet side of the evaporator 2 in the conventional gas-liquid two-phase loop shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. Bowl 2
It is possible to prevent the problem that the liquid droplets adhere to the vicinity of the outlet of the above and obstruct the flow of the gas 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the exhaust system on the outlet side of the water evaporator 10 in the conventional gas-liquid two-phase loop shown in FIG.
By disposing the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the problem that the droplet remains in the exhaust system and the liquid 1 cannot be completely discharged from the space shuttle or the like. .

Further, the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present embodiment does not need to be provided with a special drive source, can be reduced in size and weight, and can be operated reliably and prevent a failure from occurring. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to improving the performance of the spacecraft.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the high temperature fluid can be used for other than hydraulic oil, and other various changes are made within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course you can get it.

[0036]

According to the droplet evaporator for a spacecraft of the present invention,
Various excellent effects as described below can be obtained.

I) Droplets Droplets in a mixed gas can be effectively evaporated.

II) It is not necessary to provide a special drive source,
Since it is possible to reduce the size and weight, it is possible to surely operate and prevent the occurrence of a failure, which can contribute to improving the performance of the spacecraft.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the outline of one embodiment of a droplet evaporator for spacecraft of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an example of a gas-liquid two-phase loop to which the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the outline of another example of a gas-liquid two-phase loop to which the droplet evaporator for spacecraft according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an example of a conventional gas-liquid two-phase loop.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the outline of another example of a conventional gas-liquid two-phase loop.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Gas Inlet 15 Gas Outlet 16 Evaporator Main Body 17 Conical Part 20 Droplet Inflow Prevention Wall 21 Flow Forming Member 22 Gas Passage Space 23 Droplet Separation Passage 24 Guide Plate 25 High Temperature Fluid Flow Path 26 High Temperature Fluid

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Ichikawa 229 Tonogaya, Mizuho-cho, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo Ishi Kawashima Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mizuho Plant (72) Inventor Yano Toshikazu Shinaka, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture Haramachi No. 1 Ishi Kawashima Harima Heavy Industries Ltd. Technical Research Institute

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hollow evaporator main body having a gas inlet on one end side, a gas outlet on the other end side, and a conical portion having a diameter gradually increasing toward the gas outlet on the gas inlet side. A flow path forming member that is provided inside the evaporator main body, extends along the axis of the evaporator main body from the vicinity of the gas inlet toward the gas outlet, and can form a gas passage space between the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator main body. And a spiral guide plate for forming a droplet separation passage is fixedly provided in the gas passage space, and a high temperature fluid flow path capable of circulating a high temperature fluid is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the evaporator body. Characteristic droplet evaporator for spacecraft. 2. The droplet evaporator for a spacecraft according to claim 1, wherein an end surface on the gas outlet side of the evaporator main body is a droplet inflow prevention wall protruding toward the gas inlet so that the diameter thereof gradually decreases.