Present Situation and Future Development for the Experiments of Boiling and Two-Phase Flow under Microgravity Conditions

Abstract

Increase in the consumption of electricity and in the heat dissipation density from semiconductors will become a serious problem also in space. To develop thermal management systems for space platforms, fundamental data for their design is to be obtained through boiling and Two-Phase Flow (TPF) experiments onboard international space station (ISS). In addition to the acquisition of data for heat transfer, the clarification of flow and heating conditions, where gravity effects disappear, become an important objective of the experiment. An experimental setup was developed thorough the long-term discussion and design among JAXA, researchers and manufactures supporting the project, and was already transported to ISS. Objectives and situation of the present research and a desired direction of future experiments are described with reference to the existing data obtained from short-term microgravity experiments for flow boiling.