Project aims
Space vehicles need thermal control systems to provide cooling for the technical equipment and the crew cabin. Radiators outside the spacecraft are used for heat rejection. Hydraulic loops connect inner heat sources with the radiators outside. Due to specific safety and physical requirements, a dual-loop structure with two different heat carrier fluids is commonly used. A single-loop system would have the potential to reduce complexity, weight and auxiliary energy demand, but there is no suitable heat carrier fluid available so far.
Fraunhofer UMSICHT with AIRBUS Defence and Space have been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the possibility to use a Phase Change Slurry (PCS) as heat carrier fluid in a single-loop system. Objectives of the project are the development of a suitable dispersion, the determination of the most important fluid properties and operational tests of the dispersion in test rigs. The dispersion bases on commonly used heat transfer fluids used in spacecrafts and an additional phase change material dispersed into the fluid.