Spacecraft Thermal Management Using Advanced Hybrid Two-Phase Loop Technology

Abstract

The paper discusses an advanced hybrid two‐phase loop technology for spacecraft thermal management. The hybrid loop integrates active mechanical pumping with passive capillary pumping promising a reliable yet high performance cooling system. The advanced evaporator design using porous wick structures was developed for the hybrid loop to enhance boiling heat transfer by passive phase separation. The prototype testing using various hybrid loops and components demonstrated that the hybrid loop was capable of removing high heat fluxes from multiple heat sources with large surface areas up to 135 cm2. Because of the passive capillary phase separation, the hybrid loop operation doesn’t require any active flow control of excess liquid in the evaporator, even at highly transient and asymmetrical heat inputs. These performance results represent significant improvements over state‐of‐the‐art heat pipes, loop heat pipes and evaporative spray cooling devices in terms of performance, robustness and simplicity.