Demonstration of Compact Air Separation Technology for In-Flight Oxygen Collection Space Launchers

Autor:	Patrick Hendrick, Didier Bizzarri, Dries Verstraete
Rok vydání:	2014
Předmět:	Propellant Air separation Engineering business.industry Mechanical Engineering Phase (waves) Aerospace Engineering Fuel Technology Tray Space and Planetary Science Two-stage-to-orbit Takeoff Current (fluid) Aerospace engineering business Simulation Order of magnitude
Zdroj:	Journal of Propulsion and Power. 30:62-69
ISSN:	1533-3876 0748-4658
DOI:	10.2514/1.b34958
Popis:	In-flight oxygen collection enables a significant reduction in takeoff gross weight of space launchers, thereby allowing airplane-like operations. This paper describes the development and tests of a compact rotary air separation device that constitutes a part of a functional oxygen collection plant. The experimental results are described in detail, demonstrating a consistent and long duration operation of the device yielding a high purity of liquid enriched air (96% oxygen) while causing only very small pressure drops on the gaseous phase. The tests indicate that the height of a so-called ideal tray for the current device is around 1 to 2 cm of core foam material, which is an improvement of one order of magnitude compared with previous designs. The experimental results are scaled up and applied to two different two stage to orbit launch vehicles. It is shown that a complete oxygen collection plant for a subsonic collection phase would weigh around 4 tons and occupy approximately 6 m3, which represents le...
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::7784d09e88d107a619f9eaa7e78a5dda https://doi.org/10.2514/1.b34958 Zobrazit plný text záznamu