Thermal Management Of Environment Control And Life Support System Of Space Stations

Structural weight reduction is very important to space vehicles. Different from weight reduction technology of single structure or equipment, this study aims at investigating the effective methods to reduce the weight and power consumption of the Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) of space stations based on the point of view of system and thermal management. ECLSS can be considered as a flow and thermo-hydraulic network composed of heat exchangers, gas and liquid loops etc. of which physical and mathematical models and weight analysis were completed. The influences of the layout of the thermal units on the system weight were first researched. It was proved that there is a best layout in the series thermal network if the optimal object is the overall heat exchange area being the least. The layout principle of the thermal units was consequently presented. The influences of flow rate distribution in a parallel loop on the system weight were theoretically analyzed and the best flow rate distribution was obtained by optimal analysis. The experimental system to simulate the thermal network was set up. The principles concerning with the layout and flow rate distribution were verified experimentally. The influences of the structural and operational parameters on the system weight were investigated, such as pipe diameter, coolant flow rate, characteristic temperature and so on. Holistic weight analyses were performed and showed that the system weight can be reduced by 30%.The physical and mathematical models for the Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation System for urine treatment (TIMES), one of the important subsystems of ECLSS, were established. The effects of the thermoelectric pump, heat exchange area, flow rate, condensing pressure on the system weight and power consumption were analyzed. The optimization of these parameters can reduce TIMES weight by 20 ~ 40%. Several thermal management methods were presented, such as the coordination between the power supply distribution of the thermoelectric pump and the temperature difference across the cold and hot sides, and the thermal contact...