Agence Spatiale Europeenne

Agence Spatiale Europeene

Robert Laine

Primo Tamburini

A system for extracting including a cooled condenser apparatus in contact with the volume of pressurized air being dehumidified, the condensed water being transferred into collection areas by means of capillary attraction; an evaporation chamber in thermal contact with the condenser apparatus having an inlet connected to the collection areas by means of a first valve device and an outlet connected by means of a second valve device to a space wherein the pressure is lower than that of the volume of pressurized air; and a control device for controlling the valve devices in order to carry out a control cycle with a first phase for placing the evaporation chamber under negative pressure in relation to the volume of pressurized air, and a second phase for suctioning the condensed water in the collection areas towards the decompression chamber, until the pressure in the decompression chamber reaches a predefined threshold.

Method and system for extracting and disposing of water vapor contained in the air of a space vehicle

The invention relates to cryogenic apparatus of the open cycle kind comprising a reservoir 1 for storing cryogenic fluid in liquid-vapor phase equilibrium and a phase separator 2 presenting an inlet 3 communicating with the inside of the reservoir and an outlet 4 for liberating gas, the inlet including an obturator 6. The technical problem is to provide an apparatus of simple operation with minimal dissipated energy. According to the invention, the phase separator 2 comprises a transfer chamber 9 with a constriction 5 at its inlet, and a further obturator 8 at its outlet, the two obturators 6,8 being operated alternately by a control unit 10. The invention is particularly applicable to zero-gravity operation, especially for space missions.

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Fourqueux, France

Robert Laine