By Application:    Architectural Laboratory Water Treatment Marine Air Handling

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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.

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