Search Results

The paper deals with some aspects and results of research in major processes and hardware of a system for hygiene waste water recovery and its architecture concepts. A principal system schematic and its functions on Mir space station are presented. It is shown that physico-chemical means ensure cost-effective recovery with minimum energy demand and resupply which is particulary important for long-duration space missions.

The paper deals with description and results of long-term operation of separation and heat-and-mass transfer hardware incorporated in Mir's water recovery systems. Static separators outfitted with hydrophilic capillary/ porous elements, a rotary separator, a through-flow condenser/static separator combination, a membrane evaporator as well as separation and distillation schematics are reviewed. Operational and life performance data are discussed and recommendations for hardware use on ISS are made.

The paper deals with the system for hygiene water recovery developed for the Mir orbital space station. The paper presents a system schematic, its operation logic and the system component design. The results of system ground checkout tests and its operation on the Mir space station verify the system design solution adopted and the effectiveness of the procedures developed for system preservation and re-activation prior to and during station spaceflight.

Separation of a two-phase gas/liquid flow stream into the respective gas and liquid constituents with minimum or no carryover is a necessary and challenging requirement in space vehicle life support systems in a micro-gravity environment. This paper will describe testing of two types of Russian MIR water separators in a one-gravity environment at conditions typical of each separator's MIR operating envelope. Presently on MIR, two types of two-phase separator designs, a static separator design and a rotary separator design, are used in several applications. The static separator design is used in the potable water processor. In addition, static separators are used in a carbon dioxide reduction system which is under development for MIR. A rotary separator design is used in both the urine processor and the hygiene water processor systems.

The paper deals with possible performance enhancement of the system for water reclamation from urine based on a principle of atmospheric distillation. It is shown by way of example using the system operating on Mir that the introduction of heat energy recuperation, an increase in heat-and-mass transfer efficiency on evaporation and the optimization of the air flowrate in the distillation cycle allow a rise in the capacity of the distillation assembly and a reduction in specific energy. The system outfitted with a rotary evaporator/separator and a thermoelectric heat pump is reviewed. The design and experimental data verify the feasibility and benefits of the system updating.

Practically any processes vital for autonomous inhabited systems require forced transfer of liquids. Therefore, such systems normally incorporate pumps of various types. The specific features of the autonomous inhabited systems result in the fact that the pumping equipment of these systems also has some specific features. The methods of selecting a particular type of pump and general estimate of its specific features are considered for one typical kind of autonomous inhabited system, i.e., for the life-support and survival systems of space vehicles.

This paper deals with water reclamation from humidity condensate and urine schematics and processes realized on orbital space stations Salut and Mir. The results of research in updated processes and schematics for condensate separation, purification and distillation with heat energy recovery are described. It is shown that the processes and hardware make possible to reduce energy demand and the weight of the water recovery systems under operation on space stations.