Experimental and numerical study of space station airflow distribution under microgravity condition

A space station that operates under microgravity conditions is a closed environment where a reasonable airflow distribution is required to eliminate body heat dissipation, remove contaminants and thus keep the crew comfortable. However, design of a reasonable airflow distribution has remained challenging. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods with various turbulence models were used to investigate the airflow distribution inside a space station under microgravity conditions. To compare the performance of different models, the shrinkable ratio method was used to set up a mockup station to eliminate the influence of gravity-induced natural convection. The air velocity distribution in the narrow scale model was measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Results showed that the performance of the standard k-ε turbulence model was better than the renormalized group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model. The air distribution was optimized by changing the angle of the air supply outlet, suggesting that a three-dimensional air supply can provide better thermal comfort and higher air quality.