We propose a micro-gravity flight campaign to investigate the effects of gravity on the electric forces governing the heat flux acquisition and fluid management phenomenon and to demonstrate…

This federal contract award to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is for a $193,122 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to conduct a microgravity flight campaign and prepare for a future International Space Station (ISS) experiment. The research aims to investigate the effects of gravity on electric forces governing heat flux and fluid management, and demonstrate enhanced thermal management capabilities in a microgravity environment. The microgravity flight data will inform the design of the planned ISS experiment, which will provide long-term microgravity data to support the development of advanced thermal management hardware. This award does not have a set-aside designation. As a private, non-profit research university, WPI has extensive experience partnering with federal agencies like NASA on R&D projects related to aerospace, energy, and other technical domains.

We propose a micro-gravity flight campaign to investigate the effects of gravity on the electric forces governing the heat flux acquisition and fluid management phenomenon and to demonstrate enhanced thermal management capabilities in a relevant environment. The results of the micro-gravity flight campaign will provide essential data for the design of the ISS flight experiment scheduled for 2021 to perform long-term investigation of the subject phenomena and technology. Electrically driven liquid film boiling makes use of two components of the EHD force generated by the application of a direct current electric field to a dielectric fluid. This technique enhances two phase heat transfer by providing a constant liquid working fluid source (thus alleviating dry out) through EHD conduction pumping and enhancing vapor departure via the dielectrophoretic force. The investigators propose to acquire experimental heat transfer data in a micro-gravity environment (week long micro gravity airplane) that will be used to design for an upcoming ISS experiment. The ISS experiment will provide long term micro-gravity data for development of thermal management hardware for infusion as discussed in the proposal.