MEASUREMENT OF FLUID QUALITY IN MICROGRAVITY WITH ULTRASOUND

THE ABILITY TO REMOTELY DETERMINE THE CONDITION OF A TWO-PHASE FLOW WOULD BE VALUABLE FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND OPERATION OF ADVANCED SPACE POWER, THERMAL MANAGEMENT, AND FLUID MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP A NONINVASIVE ULTRASONIC FILM THICKNESS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR USE IN A BROAD RANGE OF FLUIDS, FLOW CONDITIONS, AND OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS. WHEN COMBINED WITH A SEPARATE MEASUREMENT OF MASS, VOLUME, OR MOMENTUM FLOW, HIGH RESOLUTION FILM THICKNESS MEASUREMENT PROVIDES A SENSITIVE DETERMINANT OF FLOW QUALITY FOR ALL FLOW REGIMES. WITH RECENT ADVANCES IN COMMERCIAL ULTRASONIC EVALUATION EQUIPMENT, THIS CONCEPT PROMISES THE BEST COMBINATION OF ACCURACY, STABILITY, AND RELIABILITY OF ALL COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROGRAM CONCEPT THROUGH FLOW MODELING AND LABORATORY TESTING WITH AN AIR-WATER TWO-PHASE FLOW SYSTEM. PHASE II WILL INCLUDE ADVANCED MODELING, HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT, AND KC-135 FLIGHT TESTING USING A TWO-PHASE FLOW SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY FOSTER-MILLER IN A PREVIOUS WEAPONS LABORATORY SBIR PROGRAM. PHASE III WILL INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF AN INSTRUMENT SUITABLE FOR USE IN A BROAD RANGE OF TWO-PHASE FLOW SYSTEMS FOR SPACE AND TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL RESULT IN COMMERCIALIZATION OF AN ACCURATE, RELIABLE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND CONTROL OF TWO-PHASE FLOW SYSTEMS. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE SPACE POWER, THERMAL MANAGEMENT, AND FLUID MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, AS WELL AS IN TERRESTRIAL INDUSTRIES SUCH AS NUCLEAR POWER, MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS, AND CHEMICAL AND MANUFACTURING PROCESS SYSTEMS.