{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":94043,"title":"Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10684,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10682,"level":3,"code":"TX06.1.2","title":"Water Recovery and Management","definition":"Water recovery and management provides a safe and reliable supply of potable water to meet crew consumption and operational needs, including supply and storage, recycling, and management through dormant mission periods.","exampleTechnologies":"Wastewater collection, wastewater processing, brine processing, potable water microbial control","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":2,"currentTrl":3,"endTrl":3,"benefits":"
The Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator is a system that not only offers a solution to TA6.1.2 and TA6.1.3, but it also opens avenues for research that can provide meaningful insights into the development of other space technologies. As stated earlier, the research into microgravity fluid mechanics must be conducted in order to design an effective LDS. Results from the conducted research can be used to help aid in the design of other systems for space because of the fact that many systems used in space interact with and make use of fluids. The LDS provides the opportunity to develop a system that can solve the problem of waste-water separation, as well as provide an avenue for meaningful research into microgravity fluid mechanics.
","description":"A Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator (LDS) is proposed in response to TA 6.1: Environmental Control and Life Support Systems and Habitation Systems. The LDS aims to provide a solution to the problems of waste management (TA 6.1.3), and water recovery and management (TA 6.1.2), as identified by NASA. The LDS will take advantage of the Leidenfrost effect, which is a phenomenon experienced by a liquid when it comes into close vicinity of a surface that is significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling temperature. Instant evaporation causes the formation of an insulating vapor layer that allows the liquid to float. This effect is what is responsible for floating droplets of water on a hot skillet. In the microgravity of space, liquids impacting a superheated surface are able to rebound due to this insulating vapor layer formation. The LDS will take advantage of a nozzle that will eject droplets of human waste into a channel of superheated walls made of superhydrophobic materials. These ejected droplets will propagate through the system channel, rebounding off the walls and becoming smaller and smaller as a result of water evaporation. Solid waste left over from the solution will leave the channel to be stored. The water vapor left over in the channel will be extracted out of the system. Research into microgravity fluid phenomenon is critical for the development of the proposed Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator. This research can be effectively conducted in the Dryden Drop Tower at Portland State University. Research includes investigations into the impact of different surface materials on the separation of water and solid waste, variations in the rate of evaporation due to surface material and superheat, and effects of droplet ejection methods on overall effectiveness of the system. These areas of interest must be investigated for effective development of the LDS. Lasers used to develop superhydrophobic materials, rapid prototyping equipment, and a machine shop with welding stations means that the LDS can be designed and fabricated at PSU. The Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator is a system that not only offers a solution to TA6.1.2 and TA6.1.3, but it also opens avenues for research that can provide meaningful insights into the development of other space technologies. As stated earlier, the research into microgravity fluid mechanics must be conducted in order to design an effective LDS. Results from the conducted research can be used to help aid in the design of other systems for space because of the fact that many systems used in space interact with and make use of fluids. The LDS provides the opportunity to develop a system that can solve the problem of waste-water separation, as well as provide an avenue for meaningful research into microgravity fluid mechanics.
","startYear":2017,"startMonth":9,"endYear":2019,"endMonth":12,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":314495,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Mark","lastName":"Weislogel","fullName":"Mark M Weislogel","fullNameInverted":"Weislogel, Mark M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"mmw@irpillc.com","publicEmail":false,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":84634,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Claudia","lastName":"Meyer","fullName":"Claudia M Meyer","fullNameInverted":"Meyer, Claudia M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"claudia.m.meyer@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":84634,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Claudia","lastName":"Meyer","fullName":"Claudia M Meyer","fullNameInverted":"Meyer, Claudia M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"claudia.m.meyer@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":183514,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Hung","lastName":"Nguyen","fullName":"Hung D Nguyen","fullNameInverted":"Nguyen, Hung D","middleInitial":"D","primaryEmail":"hung.d.nguyen@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":215782,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Pruitt","fullName":"Jennifer M Pruitt","fullNameInverted":"Pruitt, Jennifer M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"jennifer.m.pruitt@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"coInvestigators":[{"contactId":384849,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Rawand","lastName":"Rasheed","fullName":"Rawand M Rasheed","fullNameInverted":"Rasheed, Rawand M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"rawand@pdx.edu","publicEmail":false,"nacontact":false}],"website":"https://www.nasa.gov/strg#.VQb6T0jJzyE","libraryItems":[],"transitions":[{"transitionId":75368,"projectId":94043,"transitionDate":"2019-12-01","path":"Closed Out","details":"The research pursued in the NSTRF grant, Leidenfrost Driven Waste-Water Separator, is conducted to support NASA’s TA 6.1.2: Water Recovery and Management through the development of a non-contact, passive distillation method compatible with microgravity and partial gravity (Lunar and Martian surfaces) environments. At least 98% water recovery from waste-water streams is required for deep space missions to Mars, a performance goal that is not yet attainable with current state of the art technology. Non-contact Leidenfrost distillation is a heat driven processes, capable of achieving such metrics.
Heat driven distillation is routinely employed to distill liquid-liquid and liquid-solute solutions. Such processes typically employ pool boiling. In the pool boiling regime, liquid droplets deposited on substrates slightly above the liquid’s boiling temperature will undergo nucleate boiling and will boil away in seconds. However, if the substrate temperature is significantly higher than the liquid’s boiling temperature, the droplet will not undergo nucleate boiling, but will instead levitate on its own vapor layer completely out of contact from the surface. This vapor layer insulates the droplet from the heated substrate, reducing heat transfer to the liquid droplet by orders of magnitude. These combined effects increase droplet lifetimes by orders of magnitude, from seconds to minutes. This phenomenon is called the Leidenfrost effect and is exploited in this work to perform non-contact distillation of waste-water droplet streams.
The activities of this NSTRF grant involved three key stages including experimentation, analytical modelling, and Leidenfrost distiller development, which were conducted over the course of 2. In the experimentation stage, terrestrial (1g) Leidenfrost experiments were conducted including distillation of aqueous salt solutions and Leidenfrost droplet lifetime experiments. The comprehensive suite of experiments provided scientific results on Leidenfrost droplet evaporation rates, total lifetimes, and distances travelled for dynamically rolling droplets. Microgravity Leidenfrost experiments, the first of their kind, were conducted in the unique Dryden Drop Tower facility at Portland State University (PSU). Dynamic Leidenfrost droplet impact experiments and Leidenfrost droplet transport experiments through tortuous conduits resulted in unique scientific results as well as insights on transport methods of Leidenfrost droplets in microgravity.
Stage 2 of this NSTRF grant included analytically describing experimental results. We provided a set of analytical expressions that can be utilized as engineering guidelines for sizing and designing Leidenfrost distillers for any gravity level (µg – 1g). The analytical results matched comprehensive experimental data and were therefore verified. In stage 3, experimental results and insights from stage 1 and analytical models from stage 2 were utilized to develop a Leidenfrost distiller. A Leidenfrost distiller was successfully designed, fabricated, and tested. The distiller achieved no-touch distillation of salt-water solutions without experiencing fouling of system surfaces. The efficacy of the Leidenfrost distillation method and validity of analytical and experimental results were therefore proven. Further development of this technology is encouraged for its utility in a variety of life support environments including deep space transit and planetary outposts. Further study of microgravity Leidenfrost phenomenon is also encouraged for the prevalence of the phenomenon in cryogenic systems, as an example.
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