Aerospace Technic and Technology

The subject of the article is studying water regeneration systems in space flight conditions. The aim is to select the most appropriate method for providing astronauts with drinking water, especially in conditions of deep space missions. The tasks to be solved are: analysis of known technologies for wastewater treatment and liquid products of astronauts’ life, comparison of basic parameters of systems: productivity, specific energy consumption, etc. The main method of research is experimental, which help to obtain real performance indicators of the centrifugal vacuum distiller with a thermoelectric heat pump. The following results were obtained. Based on the analysis of known developments, it has been determined that centrifugal vacuum distillation is the most promising technology for the regeneration of water from the liquid waste in life support systems in space flight. The key factor in the choice of the best technology for pilot-controlled space missions is the maximum reliability of the system with minimal mass, dimensions, and low power consumption. The centrifugal vacuum distillers with three and five stages and several variants of energy recovery schemes based on the thermoelectric heat pump have been analyzed. The results of tests of a centrifugal vacuum distiller on urine and sewage mixtures are demonstrated. The advantages of the developed distiller in comparison with the analogue installed at the International Space Station are shown. Conclusions. The comparison of the technological schemes of the VCD (USA) and the centrifugal vacuum distiller (Ukraine), as well as the distillation units itself, demonstrates a lot of advantages of the water regeneration system based on the centrifugal vacuum distiller with the thermoelectric heat pump (THP): the absence of external pumps, the absence of a mechanical compressor, the lower influence of physical and chemical properties and temperature depression on the efficiency of the THP in comparison with the mechanical compressor, is more simple, and therefore more reliable, the design of the distillation unit. This allows us to conclude that this system is promising (especially after its modernization) for deep space missions with astronauts on board

centrifugal vacuum distillation; microgravity; water recovery; thermoelectric heat pump

McQuillan, Jeff., Pickering, Karen D., Anderson, Molly., Carter, Layne., Flynn, Michael., Callahan, Michael., Vega, Leticia., Allada, Rama and Yeh, Jannivine. Distillation Technology Down-selection for the Exploration Life Support (ELS) Water Recovery Systems Element. The 40th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2010, pp. AIAA 2010-6125.

Carter, D. L. VCD ELS Distillation Down-Select Test Final Report. Final Report, submitted to Online Project Information System (OPIS) for the Exploration Life Support Office, 2009.

Samsonov, N. M., Bobe, L. S, Novikov, V., Rifert, V. G., Barabash, P. A, et al. Development of Urine Processor Distillation Hardware for Space Stations. SAE Paper 951605, the 25th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 1995, San Diego, July 1995.

Samsonov, N. M., Bobe, L. S, Novikov, V., Rifert, V. G., Barabash, P. A, et al. Sistema i vakuumnyj centrobezhnyj distilljator dlja regeneracii vody iz mochi na bortu kosmicheskogo letatel'nogo apparata [The system and Vacuum Centrifugal Distiller for Water Recovery from Urine Aboard of Spacecraft]. Patent of Russia Federation for invention, no. 2127627, 1998.

Samsonov, N. M., Bobe, L. S, Novikov, V., Rifert, V. G., Barabash, P. A, et al. Development of Urine Processor Distillation Hardware for Space Stations. SAE Paper 951605, the 25th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 1995, San Diego, July 1995.

Samsonov, N. M., Bobe, L. S, Rifert, V. G., Barabash, P. A, et al. System and Rotary Vacuum Distiller for Water Recovery from Aqueous Solutions, Preferably from Urine Aboard Spacecraf. Patent of US, no. 6,258,215 B1. Date of Patent: Jul. 10, 2001.

Lubman, A., MacKnight, A., Reddig, M., Bobe, S. L., Pinski, B. Y., Rakov, V. V. and Edeen, M. Performance Evaluation of a Three-Stage Vacuum Rotary Distillation Processor. SAE Paper 00ICES-292, the 30th International conference Environmental Systems, 2000, Tolouse, France, July.

Lubman, Аlex M., MacKnight of Signal Hill Allen K., Calif, Rifert, Volodimir G., Zolotukhin, Ivan V., Usenko, Vladimir I., Barabash, Petr A. and Strikun, Aleksandr P. Apparatus and methods for water regeneration from waste. Patent US, no. 7610768, November 4, 2009.

Rifert, V., Usenko, V., Zolotukhin, I., MacKnight, A. Lubman, A. Design Optimisation of Cascade Rotary Distiller with the Heat Pump for Water Reclamation from Urine. SAE Paper 2001-01-2248, the 31st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2001, Orlando, July.

Samsonov, N. M., Bobe, L. S, Novikov, V. et al. Rationale and Selection of a Distillation Subsystem for Water Reclamation from Urin. SAE Paper 981714, the 28th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 1998, Danvers, MA, July.

Rifert, V. G., Lubman, A. M., MacKnight, A. K. et al. Water Recovery System from Brines and Wastewater for Extreme Living Conditions of the Man. IDA World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse, 2001, Manama, Bahrain, October 26 – 31.

Anatychuk, L. I., Barabash, P. A., Rifert, V. G. et al. Termoelektrychnyy teplovyy nasos, yak zasib pidvyshchennya efektyvnosti systemy ochyshchennya vody dlya biolohichnykh potreb pry kosmichnykh pol'otakh [Thermoelectric heat pump as a means of improving efficiency of water purification systems on space missions]. Journal of Thermoelectricity, 2013, no. 6, pp. 72-76.

Lubman, A., MacKnight, A., Rifert, V., Zolotukhin, I. et al. Wastewater Processing Cascade Distillation Subsystem Design and Evaluation. SAE International, 2006-01-2273.

Lubman, A., MacKnight, A., Rifert, V., Barabash, P. Cascade Distillation Subsystem Hardware Development for Verification Testing. SAE International, 2007-01-3177.

Callahan, M., Lubman, A., MacKnight, A. at al. Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development Testing. SAE International, 2008-01-2195.

Callahan, M., Lubman, A., Pickering, K. Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development: Progress toward a Distillation Comparison. SAE International, 2009-01-2401.

Rifert, V. G., Razumovskiy, V. G., Strikun, A. P. et al. Improvement of the distillation methods by using centrifugal forces for water recovery in space flight application. ICES-2016-369. pp. 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 10-14 July 2016, Vienna, Austria.

Callahan, M., Patel, V. Pickering, K. Cascade Distillation Subsystem Development: Early Results from the Exploration Life Support Distillation Technology Comparison Test. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010-6149, July 2010.

Rifert, V. G., Barabash, P. A., Usenko, V., Solomakha, A. S. et al Improvement The Cascade Distillation System For Long-Term Space Flights. 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Adelaide, Australia, 25-29 September 2017, IAC-17-A1.IP.25

Patel, V., Au, Henry., Shull, S., Sargusingh, M. J., Callahan, M. R. Cascade Distillation Subsystem – A water recovery system for deep space missions. 44th International Conference on Environmental Systems ICES-2014-12, 13-17 July 2014, Tucson, Arizona.

Sargusingh, M. J. Cascade Distillation System Design for Safety and Mission Assurance. 45th International Conference on Environmental Systems ICES-2015-151, 12-16 July 2015, Bellevue, Washington.