Novel dehumidifying apparatus on basis of hydrophilic/hydrophobic composite microporous membranes under microgravity

Abstract

The invention provides a novel air cooling and dehumidifying apparatus on basis of hydrophilic/hydrophobic composite microporous membranes. The apparatus is used for controlling temperature and humidity in a spacecraft cabin under microgravity conditions. The apparatus employs a tube-and-shell structure. Low-temperature cold water flows through in numerous membrane tubes; to-be-treated humid air flows through the outsides of the membrane tubes; tube walls of the membrane tubes are hydrophilic-hydrophobic composite, wherein the inner wall of each membrane tube is hydrophobic so as to prevent low-temperature liquid in the tube from penetrating to the outside of the tube at a normal or relatively low pressure; while the outer wall of each membrane tube is hydrophilic, so as to effectively ensure that water vapor cooled on the surface of the outer wall of the membrane tube enters into micropores in the membrane smoothly and condensate water is transmitted unidirectionally from the outer wall of the membrane tube to the inner wall of the membrane tube. With continuous addition of enthalpy of the humid air, the temperature of the low-temperature cold water in the membrane tubes increases; temperature-increased cold water eliminates heat to cosmic space by radiation through a radiation radiator of the spacecraft, so that the temperature is reduced; the water becomes the low-temperature cold water again and can be used circularly by cooling and dehumidification. Water vapor of the humid air enters into cooling water in the tubes after condensation and can be reused.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention proposes a "gas-liquid type" membrane air dehumidification device, which dehumidifies and dehumidifies the hot and humid air in the spacecraft cabin through a hydrophilic / hydrophobic composite microporous membrane, which is "membrane dehumidification and water vapor recovery" under microgravity A new technology that combines two into one. technical background [0002] With the rapid development of the manned spaceflight industry, launching long-term in-orbit spacecraft and space stations and other large spacecraft is a major task that will be completed in the next few years or decades. Among them, how to control the air humidity in these spacecraft cabins reliably, efficiently, energy-saving, and long-term stably, and how to recycle water vapor is one of the key technical problems in the environmental control and life support subsystems of spacecraft and space stations. [0003] The air temperature and humidity control in the spacecraft ...

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Problems solved by technology

However, the existing methods either need to consume a large amount of electric power and have moving machinery, or require disposable water-absorbing materials and cannot recycle c...

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