Vacuum Spray Boiler Heat Exchanger for Spaceflight Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing airplane hydraulic oil coolers are not mass efficient as they do not boil the coolant, which is preferred for spaceflight applications. Additionally, cooling architectures like the Water Spray Boiler (WSB) face issues with coolant freezing in cold space temperatures and have high mass, making them undesirable for repeatable and economical space flight.
Innovation Solution
The development of a vacuum spray boiler heat exchanger system that uses a plate-fin architecture and integrates a coolant spray apparatus to spray boil a coolant in vacuum or atmospheric pressure, preventing coolant freezing through thermal contact with the warm heat exchanger and maintaining vaporized coolant at a temperature above its freezing point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a water spray boiler is used for cooling in space, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but coolant freezing occurs in cold space temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the pressure parameter of the coolant system to vacuum pressure, which fundamentally alters the phase change behavior. Under vacuum conditions, the boiling point of water drops significantly, allowing the coolant to boil at lower temperatures and preventing freezing even in cold space environments. This parameter change enables the system to maintain reliability while achieving effective cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent exploits phase transitions of water under vacuum conditions. By operating in vacuum, water undergoes rapid evaporation and phase change from liquid to vapor at lower temperatures, enabling efficient heat transfer without freezing. The phase transition mechanism allows the coolant to absorb heat effectively while remaining in a usable state, avoiding the freezing problem that occurs at atmospheric pressure in cold space temperatures.
2Temperature
If a water spray boiler is used for cooling, then cooling capability is improved, but system mass becomes relatively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses vacuum as an inert environment to enable efficient phase change cooling. The vacuum condition creates an environment where water vapor can escape freely without condensing or freezing, allowing for highly efficient heat transfer with minimal coolant mass. This inert vacuum environment eliminates the need for heavy insulation and heating systems required to prevent freezing in atmospheric pressure systems.
3Device complexity
If conventional heat exchangers are used without boiling, then system simplicity is maintained, but mass efficiency deteriorates for spaceflight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces phase transition (boiling) of the coolant as the core cooling mechanism. By utilizing vacuum-induced boiling of water, the system achieves superior mass efficiency compared to conventional heat exchangers. The phase change process enables high heat transfer coefficients and efficient cooling with minimal coolant mass, making it ideal for spaceflight applications where mass is critical.
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 vacuum spray boiler effectively cools hot fluids by spray boiling a coolant, preventing freezing in extreme cold temperatures, and offers a more mass-efficient solution for spaceflight applications compared to traditional cooling systems.
Implementation Method 1
The coolant consequently phase changes from a sprayed fluid state to a boiled vapor
Implementation Method 2
The sprayed water generally converts to water vapor by the relatively hot tubes
Implementation Method 3
cooling is achieved by spraying water (or some water-based mixture) onto tubes (or channels) that contain flowing fluid to be cooled
Implementation Method 4
a heat exchanger that doubles as a container for the cooling liquid
Implementation Method 5
thermal contact with the warm heat exchanger
Implementation Method 6
vacuum spray boiler heat exchanger system that uses a plate-fin architecture and integrates a coolant spray apparatus to spray boil a coolant in vacuum
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchanger system, in particular a vacuum spray boiler, cools a hot fluid by spraying a coolant onto chambers carrying the hot fluid. This process may be performed in i) a vacuum, as in space, ii) atmospheric pressure, as on a launch pad of a space vehicle, or iii) any pressure therebetween. The heat exchanger system may incorporate a plate-fin heat exchanger. A coolant spray apparatus, used for spraying the coolant, and the heat exchanger are integrated within a vacuum chamber. The coolant, subsequent to changing to a vapor state after being sprayed onto the heat exchanger, may be exhausted to outside the system.