Ground and microgravity results of a circumferentially microgrooved capillary evaporator

• Circumferentially grooved capillary evaporators as alternative for thermal control.
• Successful start-up operation at ground and microgravity conditions.
• Successful steady state operation at ground and microgravity conditions.
• Easy repriming in case of dry-out.

A circumferentially microgrooved capillary evaporator is here proposed as a reliable alternative for ground and spacecraft thermal control system applications. In this paper, experimental results concerning the start-up and thermal behavior of a capillary evaporator at steady state operation are presented. A capillary pumped loop was developed and tested at ground and microgravity conditions, using deionized water as the working fluid. The capillary evaporator has internally machined circumferential grooves with an average opening of 33 μm opening at 215 μm step into a 19.05 mm (3/4 in) diameter aluminum tube. The corresponding capillary pumping pressure is about 1.5 kPa. In both tests, power inputs up to 10 W (4.55 kW/m2) were successfully applied to the external surface of the evaporator, showing good performance under ground and microgravity conditions. The capillary evaporator as proposed proved to be a reliable alternative for industrial and space applications.