|
acrylic cone
On Earth, buoyancy causes gases and liquids to separate, with
the gas on the top and the liquid on the bottom of a container.
In microgravity, the buoyancy force is not present, and the separation
and removal of gases from liquids requires a technical solution.
A centrifugal separator concept was designed and fabricated by
C. Frances Enterprises with support from ZIN Technologies and
Glenn's Engineering Design and Analysis Division. The concept
was successfully tested aboard the KC-135 microgravity facility
in January and March of 2001.
Gas-liquid separator after the air core has grown small enough
that the tip of the gas/liquid detector (the bent probe in the
center of the separator) is now in water, causing the gas vent
valve to close. Liquid is prohibited from exiting the separator
through the gas vent.
The separator concept consists of an acrylic cylindrical chamber
that houses two concentric acrylic cones with holes machined into
the cone sides. The chamber is coupled to a motor that spins the
cones at approximately 2500 rpm. When a mixture of gas and liquid
enters the separator in the volume between the cones, the liquid
is forced to the outside through the holes in the spinning cones
and into the cylindrical chamber. The gas in the separator forms
a distinct core at the center of the inner cone. A gas-liquid
detector is mounted in the separator, and software is used for
automatic operation. When gas is detected, a solenoid valve opens
and the gas is removed by a vacuum pump. When liquid is detected,
the solenoid valve closes so that no liquid is removed through
the gas vent line. A pump is used to remove the gas-liquid mixture
from the couette test chamber into the separator. The same pump
pushes the bubble-free water back into the couette test chamber
in preparation for making a new bubble suspension for the next
experiment.
Please Contact Us to discuss your acrylic cone
needs. You design it, we build it.
acrylic
cone
|

|