Spinner - Centrifugal Fluid Transfer in Microgravity
- Paper number
IAC-22,A2,LBA,1,x74538
- Author
Mr. Michael Luu, United States, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Year
2022
- Abstract
Transferring fluids between space vehicles is a necessity when conducting in-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM). Fluid resources such as propellant, coolant, and water are critical for space logistics. Terrestrial systems use a pump system and place the inlet in the source fluid’s lowest gravity point; however, this results in gas ingestion and disrupts fluid transfer. Most fluid transfer in space utilizes pressure fed systems which are volumetrically less efficient than pump fed systems. A novel approach for leveraging centrifugal containers to concentrate fluid to leverage pump fed systems in microgravity are presented in this presentation. This includes a microgravity technology demonstration Zero-G microgravity flight from 21 May 2022 called “Spinner”, where I have successfully tested and demonstrated the centrifugal fluid transfer experiment and transferred 70% of fluids between a source and destination container.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-22,A2,LBA,1,x74538.matter.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.