Cold Trap Selective Water Deposition via Thermal Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cold traps struggle to selectively deposit water from contaminated gas mixtures in extraterrestrial environments, as they often collect all volatiles and contaminants, including corrosive and toxic gases, due to the challenges of maintaining precise temperature and pressure conditions for selective freezing in micro-gravity and harsh conditions.
Innovation Solution
A cold trap with a thermal control system that maintains isothermal conditions and controls temperature and pressure to selectively deposit water as a solid while exhausting other chemical species in vapor form, using features like baffles, fins, and a thermal control system with heat pipes, thermosiphons, and actuating radiators to manage heat distribution and rejection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If existing cold traps are used to collect water from contaminated gas mixtures, then water collection occurs, but all volatiles and contaminants including corrosive and toxic gases are also collected
Solution Approach 1:
The cold trap employs different temperature zones within its structure. The first cold trap operates at a temperature that selectively deposits water while allowing other volatiles to pass through. The second cold trap operates at a lower temperature to capture specific contaminants. This spatial differentiation of temperature qualities enables selective separation of different chemical species based on their deposition temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the water collection process into multiple stages using separate cold traps. The first cold trap handles water deposition, while the second cold trap handles contaminant removal. This segmentation allows each trap to be optimized for its specific function, improving overall separation efficiency and preventing contaminant co-collection.
2Manufacturing precision
If temperature and pressure conditions are not precisely controlled, then selective freezing of water cannot be achieved, but maintaining precise control is challenging in micro-gravity and harsh conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a thermal control system that acts as an intermediary between the harsh extraterrestrial environment and the delicate deposition process. This system includes temperature sensors, heating elements, and control logic that actively maintain precise temperature conditions despite external disturbances, micro-gravity effects, and thermal gradients, enabling reliable selective water deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts temperature and pressure parameters to optimize water deposition. By changing these parameters in response to sensor feedback and environmental conditions, the system maintains precise control over the deposition process without requiring overly complex mechanical structures, adapting instead through controlled parameter variation.
3Productivity
If all volatiles are collected in the cold trap, then water collection efficiency increases, but the trap becomes contaminated with corrosive and toxic gases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes contaminants from the gas mixture before they can contaminate the water collection trap. The second cold trap, operating at lower temperatures, selectively captures corrosive and toxic gases, allowing them to be isolated and removed from the system. This extraction process protects the primary water collection trap from contamination, maintaining its operational reliability and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potentially harmful effect of contaminants into a beneficial separation mechanism. By allowing contaminants to pass through the first cold trap and then capturing them in the second cold trap, the system uses the temperature difference to its advantage. The contaminants that would otherwise damage the primary trap are instead captured in a dedicated containment area, transforming a reliability threat into a controlled separation process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively separates water from contaminants by maintaining the desired temperature and pressure conditions, reducing contamination and improving the efficiency and purity of water collection, even in challenging extraterrestrial environments.
Implementation Method 1
maintains a deposition temperature at a pressure that selectively deposits the desired chemical species to a solid phase on the internal walls and the one or more internal structural components without condensing or depositing the undesired chemical species
Implementation Method 2
selectively deposits the desired chemical species to a solid phase
Implementation Method 3
using features like baffles, fins, and a thermal control system with heat pipes, thermosiphons, and actuating radiators to manage heat distribution and rejection
Implementation Method 4
thermal control system with heat pipes, thermosiphons, and actuating radiators to manage heat distribution and rejection
Implementation Method 5
thermal control system with heat pipes, thermosiphons, and actuating radiators to manage heat distribution and rejection
Implementation Method 6
The cold trap may include an insulation layer that reduces heat transfer between the body and the external environment
Implementation Method 7
A baffle or section of a cold trap may be cooled to low temperatures so that when the vapor molecules contact a surface of the baffle or section of the cold trap, the vapor molecules convert into a liquid or solid form
Data Source
AI summary
A cold trap is designed to receive an incoming gas mixture and selectively deposit a chemical species on internal walls of the cold trap and exhausting undesired contaminant species from the cold trap. The cold trap includes a thermal control system designed to maintain a deposition temperature on the internal walls to achieve freeze distillation of the chemical species. The cold trap also includes an inlet and/or outlet configured to maintain a pressure in the cold trap to achieve selective deposition of the chemical species into a solid phase without condensing or depositing other chemical species. The thermal control system maintains isothermal conditions on the internal walls while rejecting heat generated in the cold trap to a cold environment outside of the cold trap. In some implementations, the selectively deposited chemical species is water and the cold environment is a lunar environment.