US-12616927-B2 - Two-phase separator device for removing condensate or particulate from a gas stream

US12616927B2US 12616927 B2US12616927 B2US 12616927B2US-12616927-B2

Abstract

This disclosure provides a two-phase separator device for separating condensate or particulate from a gas stream. In some implementations, the separator device removes water from air and may operate under micro-gravity conditions. The gas stream flows through the two-phase separator device and passes through a rotatable vane assembly along a flow path without being redirected in another flow path. Condensate or particulate in the gas stream is impacted by a plurality of vanes of the rotatable vane assembly, and the condensate is captured by features formed within the plurality of vanes. The captured condensate is accelerated radially outwardly along the each of the plurality of vanes towards a sloped inner wall, and further moved along the sloped inner wall in a direction against the flow path of the gas stream during rotation.

Inventors

Thomas Cognata
Brittany Lynn Zimmerman

Assignees

PARAGON SPACE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230814

Claims (12)

1 . A method of separating liquid or particulate from a gas stream, the method comprising: receiving, in an axial direction, a two-phase mixture of a gas stream and liquid or particulate through an inlet of a housing of a two-phase separator device; rotating a rotatable vane assembly of the two-phase separator device, wherein the rotatable vane assembly comprises a rotatable drum retained in the housing and a plurality of vanes connected to the rotatable drum at an inner wall of the rotatable drum, wherein the rotatable van assembly rotates about an axis of rotation that is along the axial direction, wherein the plurality of vanes are arranged about the axis of rotation and extend radially outwardly to the inner wall of the rotatable drum; and flowing the gas stream through the rotatable vane assembly while the rotatable vane assembly is rotating, wherein the liquid or particulate of the gas stream is captured by one or more of the plurality of vanes without diverting the liquid or particulate while suspended in the gas stream, wherein the liquid or particulate is accelerated radially outwardly along the one or more of the plurality of vanes towards the inner wall of the rotatable drum after capture, wherein the gas stream is flowed through the rotatable vane assembly in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation without diverting the gas stream radially outwards away from the axis of rotation, wherein the gas stream flows through the rotatable vane assembly to exit an outlet of the housing without axial or radial redirection.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: collecting the captured liquid or particulate by a pickup tube having an opening that is at least partially disposed within a channel that is formed along the inner wall of the rotatable drum.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the pickup tube is stationary and the housing is stationary when rotating the rotatable vane assembly of the two-phase separator device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: discharging the gas stream at the outlet of the housing of the two-phase separator device.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rotating the rotatable vane assembly includes rotating the plurality of vanes at a rotational velocity to cause the captured liquid or particulate to move radially outwardly along each of the plurality of vanes and along a sloped inner wall of the rotatable drum in a direction against the flow path of the gas stream.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of non-planar features are formed in at least one major surface of each of the plurality of vanes, the plurality of features configured to capture liquid or particulate from the gas stream.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein flowing the gas stream through the rotatable vane assembly comprises accelerating radially outwardly the captured liquid or particulate along the non-planar features to a channel that is formed along the inner wall of the rotatable drum.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rotating the rotatable vane assembly comprises rotating the plurality of vanes to cause a rotational momentum of the rotatable vane assembly to transfer to the gas stream as axial momentum.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein flowing the gas stream through the rotatable vane assembly occurs in micro-gravity conditions.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein rotating the rotatable vane assembly comprises rotating plurality of vanes and the rotatable drum about the axis of rotation along the axial direction of the two-phase separator device, wherein the plurality of vanes are arranged about the axis of rotation and extend radially outwardly to the rotatable drum.
11 . A method of separating liquid or particulate from a gas stream, the method comprising: receiving a two-phase mixture of a gas stream and liquid or particulate through an inlet of a housing of a two-phase separator device; rotating a rotatable vane assembly of the two-phase separator device about an axis of rotation, wherein the rotatable vane assembly comprises a rotatable drum and a plurality of vanes connected to the rotatable drum at an inner wall of the rotatable drum, wherein the plurality of vanes are arranged about the axis of rotation and extend radially outwardly to the inner wall of the rotatable drum; flowing the gas stream through the rotatable vane assembly in an axial direction while the rotatable vane assembly is rotating, wherein the liquid or particulate of the gas stream is captured by the plurality of vanes without diverting the liquid or particulate while suspended in the gas stream and without diverting the gas stream radially outwards away from the axis of rotation, wherein the liquid or particulate is accelerated radially outwardly along one or more of the plurality of vanes after capture; and collecting the captured liquid or particulate by a pickup tube having an opening that is at least partially disposed within a channel that is formed along the inner wall of the rotatable drum.
12 . A method of separating liquid or particulate from a gas stream, the method comprising: receiving a two-phase mixture of a gas stream and liquid or particulate through an inlet of a housing of a two-phase separator device; rotating a rotatable vane assembly of the two-phase separator device about an axis of rotation, wherein the rotatable vane assembly comprises a rotatable drum retained in the housing and a plurality of vanes connected to the rotatable drum at an inner wall of the rotatable drum, wherein the plurality of vanes are arranged about the axis of rotation and extend radially outwardly to the inner wall of the rotatable drum, wherein a plurality of grooves are formed in at least one major surface of each of the plurality of vanes, the plurality of grooves configured to capture liquid or particulate from the gas stream; and flowing the gas stream through the rotatable vane assembly in an axial direction while the rotatable vane assembly is rotating, wherein the liquid or particulate of the gas stream is captured by the plurality of grooves of the plurality of vanes without diverting the liquid or particulate while suspended in the gas stream, wherein the liquid or particulate is accelerated radially outwardly along one or more of the plurality of vanes towards the inner wall of the rotatable drum after capture, wherein the gas stream is flowed through the rotatable vane assembly in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation without diverting the gas stream radially outwards away from the axis of rotation, wherein the gas stream flows through the rotatable vane assembly to exit an outlet of the housing without axial or radial redirection.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Some embodiments of this invention were made with United States Government Support under Contract Nos. 80NSSC18P2185 and 80NSSC19C0208 awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The U.S. Government has certain rights in this invention. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE An Application Data Sheet is filed concurrently with this specification as part of the present application. Each application that the present application claims benefit of or priority to as identified in the concurrently filed Application Data Sheet is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to two-phase separator devices, apparatuses, and methods for removing condensate or particulate from a gas stream, and more particularly to inertial separator devices, apparatuses, and methods for separating condensate or particulate at a low pressure drop and minimal power draw. BACKGROUND Humidity and temperature control are integral in many industrial applications. An air stream may include a two-phase mixture of air and water. Condensing heat exchangers are used in many industrial applications in humidity and thermal control systems. Condensing heat exchangers cool the air stream by heat removal for temperature control. For humidity control, some condensing heat exchangers may remove water directly from the air stream and some condensing heat exchangers may remove water using a water separator downstream from the condensing heat exchanger. Often, condensing heat exchangers that remove water directly from the air stream may do so by allowing condensed moisture to flow out of the condensing heat exchanger by gravity. While air and water are ubiquitous on earth, air and water are extremely valuable in space and serve as key ingredients to life in space. Cooling air and removing excess moisture may be critical in space applications. That may allow cooled dry air to be circulated for breathing. However, humidity and temperature control may be more challenging in outer space due at least in part to operating in micro-gravity environments. By way of an example, the International Space Station (ISS) may include a Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) for humidity and temperature control. The Common Cabin Air Assembly may include a cabin heat exchanger for cooling an air stream, where the air stream may be cooled by circulating cooled water to remove excess heat. Moreover, the cabin heat exchanger may condense moisture in the air stream by using water-cooled fin surfaces over which the moisture condenses. From there, the condensed moisture and air collects into a “slurper,” where the slurper removes the condensed moisture from the air stream. FIG. 1A shows a schematic illustration of a Common Cabin Air Assembly 100 including water-cooled fins 102, air fins 104, and a slurper bar (“slurper”) 106. The slurper bar 106 draws air and the condensed moisture through slurper holes 108. The slurper bar 106 takes in a two-phase mixture of water and air that is then separated by a rotary separator or fan separator (not shown). The rotary separator removes water from the two-phase mixture so that cooled dry air may be circulated. FIG. 1B shows a schematic block diagram of a Common Cabin Air Assembly 100 including a slurper 106 and a water separator 110. As shown in FIG. 1B, air enters the Common Cabin Air Assembly 100 and is cooled by a humidity control heat exchanger (HX) 112, and a two-phase mixture of air and water is drawn through a slurper 106. Water is removed by a water separator or rotary separator 110 located downstream from the slurper 106. Operation of the slurper 106 depends upon a liquid film wetting the heat exchanger 112 and slurper 106, where operation of the slurper 106 requires a hydrophilic surface. However, the presence of siloxanes and/or other chemical agents have degraded the hydrophilic surface of the heat exchanger 112 and the slurper 106, converting a hydrophilic coating to behave more hydrophobically. This causes slugs of water to pass by the slurper 106 rather than through the slurper 106, thereby going places where water is not desired. Chemical degradation of the slurper 106 occurs by surface modification of the hydrophilic surface into a hydrophobic surface via siloxanes and/or other chemical agents, resulting in inadequate performance. Ultimately, the operation of the slurper 106 and the Common Cabin Air Assembly 100 is compromised. SUMMARY The systems, methods and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein. One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a two-phase separator device. The device includes a housing having an inlet for receiving a two-phase mixture, where the two-phase mixture includes a gas stream and condensate or partic