LOW TEMPERATURE LOW PRESSURE WATER SEPARATOR DEVELOPMENT

THE PRESENT AIRCRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM (ECS) CANNOT OPERATE AT TEMPERATURES BELOW OR NEAR FREEZING. THIS IS DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF SUBMIRCON WATER DROPLETS THAT FREEZE AND FORM ICE ON ANY SURFACE ON WHICH THEY IMPINGE. IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO REMOVE THESE WATER DROPLETS FROM THE ECS, THE ECS COULD OPERATE AT TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING AND ITS PERFORMANCE WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES PHASE I OF A PROJECT TO DEVELOP A LOW TEMPERATURES, LOW PRESSURE WATER SEPARATOR THAT WOULD REMOVE WATER DROPLETS FROM THE ECS AND DUMP THE COLLECTED ICE OVERBOARD WITHOUT UTILIZING ADDITIONAL HEAT. PHASE I CONSISTS OF DEFINING THE DESIGN ENVELOPE FOR SUCH A SEPARATOR, DEVELOPING SEPARATOR DESIGNS USING STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY, AND FABRICATING AND TESTING PROMISING SEPARATOR CONFIGURATIONS AT PROTOTYPICAL CONDITIONS. THE RESULTS OF PHASE I WILL PROVIDE THE DESIGN AND TEST DATA NECESSARY TO PRODUCE A FIELD UNIT.