TITANIUM/WATER CAPILLARY PUMPED LOOP FOR MANNED ENVIRONMENTS

FUTURE SPACE SYSTEMS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY UTILIZE TWO-PHASE HEAT TRANSPORT DEVICES TO MANAGE THEIR COMPLEX THERMAL SYSTEMS. MANY CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED FOR A TWO-PHASE THERMAL BUS SUCH AS HEAT PIPES, CAPILLARY PUMPED LOOPS, AND MECHANICALLY PUMPED LOOPS. THIS PROPOSAL DEFINES A WORK PLAN DIRECTED TOWARDS DEVELOPING A NEW CAPILLARY PUMPED LOOPCONCEPT WHICH UTILIZES RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HEAT PIPE WICKSTRUCTURES. THE NEW CONCEPT WOULD INCREASE THE OPERATING POWER RANGE OF A CPL TO THAT OF A HEAT PIPE AND ALSO WOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR EXTERNAL CONTROLS AND STARTER PUMPS. TITANIUM/WATER WAS CHOSEN AS THE MATERIAL/FLUID COMBINATION TO ALLOW FOR DIRECT USE IN MANNED ENVIRONMENTS.