Thermal Hydraulic Characteristics in a Two-phase Flow Loop Driven by Mechanical Pump under Microgravity

Abstract

Recent increase in the size of space platforms requires the management of larger amount of waste heat under high heat flux conditions and the transportation of it along a long distance to the radiator. Flow boiling applied to the thermal management system in space attracts much attention as promising means to realize high-performance heat transfer and transport. However, gravity effects on the two-phase flow phenomena and corresponding heat transfer characteristics have not yet been clarified in detail. In the present paper, flow boiling heat transfer characteristics are investigated in the microgravity environment by the parabolic flight experiments.