Development of a Two-Phase Flow Cooling System for Space Systems: design and ground research activity of Baridi-Sana Project

Abstract

The increasing attention to Space for scientific and commercial uses has led, in recent years, to a miniaturization of space systems and satellites, trying and meeting the new needs of a longer operational life, reduced costs and weights, reliability without leaving apart the high performance needed for space applications. For this purpose, the quality and performance of the new generation of space systems are exponentially improved, the result of a new phase of space research. In this context, two-phase flow cooling systems assume great operational importance. This increasing attention is testified by the interest shown by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), that sponsored the Baridi-Sana Project, as a join work between the Italian Space Agency and Sapienza University of Rome, with the collaboration of ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, with the China Space Agency. Baridi-Sana was selected as one of nine scientific projects Planned for the China Space Station (CSS). In this study, the experimental activity related to this new two-phase flow cooling system, is reported, considering the system design and the characterization of the system, preparatory for the future operations in orbit.