REVERSIBLE OXIDE CHEMICAL COMPRESSOR FOR SENSOR CRYOCOOLING

A VIBRATIONLESS LONG-LIVED REFRIGERATOR IS DESIRED TO PRODUCE COOLING FOR SPACECRAFT SENSORS IN THE 65-80 K RANGE. HIGHLY COMPRESSED GAS, AFTER JOULE-THOMSON EXPANSION, CAN PRODUCE CRYOLIQUIDS TO PROVIDE SUCH COOLING. A CHEMICAL OXYGEN COMPRESSOR IS APPEALING, YET CURRENT MATERIALS ARE LIMITED BY A LOW WEIGHT FRACTION OF OXYGEN; E.G. PR1-NCDNOO.13 (PCO) WITH 1.5% BY WEIGHT. THE KEY INNOVATION PROPOSED HEREIN IS THE ADAPTATION OF THE EXPERTISE AND WELL-EQUIPPED FACILITIES OF HCI IN FORMULATINGLONG-LIFE PROCESSED MATERIALS, WITH THE CORRECT PHYSICAL ANDCHEMICAL PROPERTIES TO EASILY COMPRESS HYDROGEN, WHICH IF SUCCESSFUL WILL DO THE SAME FOR OXYGEN. THE MOST IMPORTANT PHYSICAL PROPERTY IS THAT OF LARGE SURFACE AREAS FOR BOTH THE UNOXIDIZED AND OXIDIZED MATERIALS. THE MOST IMPORTANT CHEMICAL PROPERTY IS GOOD REVERSIBILITY OF THE UNOXIDIZED/OXIDIZED MATERIAL INTERCONVERSION. THE CHIEF IMPROVEMENTS EXPECTED ARE AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE INCREASE IN THE OXYGEN WEIGHT LOADING OVER PCO, AND A LOWER MAXIMUM OPERATING TEMPERATURE. SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF THE OBSORPTION AND DESORPTION THERMODYNAMICS AND KINETICS OF A SET OF PROCESSED AND TREATED SOLIDS WILL YIELD OPERATING PARAMETERS OF THESE CANDIDATE OXYGEN STORAGE MATERIALS IN THE PHASE I WORK. CONSTRUCTION AND TESTING OF A WORKING OXYGEN COMPRESSOR WILL TAKE PLACE IN PHASE II.