Low-rate gas flow meter.
Low rate gas flow meter noting sealing and controlling of piston, differential pressure meter and DC servoamplifier
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Low rate gas flow meter noting sealing and controlling of piston, differential pressure meter and DC servoamplifier
Gas flow rate predictions for long and short tubes and annuli and at densities between laminar- continuum and free molecular regimes
Free-floating piston in a vertical column accurately measures and records low gas-flow rates. The system may be calibrated, using an adjustable flow-rate gas supply, a low pressure gage, and a sequence recorder. From the calibration rates, a nomograph may be made for easy reduction. Temperature correction may be added for further accuracy.
Positive-displacement flowmeter measures low gas-flow rates by gaging the time required for a slug of mercury to pass between two reference levels in a tube of known volume.
This paper reports the variation of the etch rate of polymers in the afterglow of a radio frequency discharge in oxygen as a function of total flow rate in the range 2-10 cu cm (STP)/min. The measurements were made at ambient temperature with the O(P-3) concentration held essentially constant. Results are reported on three polymers: cis-polybutadiene, a polybutadiene with 33 percent 1,2 double bonds, and a polybutadiene with 40 percent 1,2 double bonds. It has been observed that the etch rate of these polymers decreases significantly with increasing flow rate, strongly suggesting that the vapor-phase products of polymer degradation contribute to the degradation process.
Computer program calculates the steady state flow characteristics of an ideal compressible gas in a complex piping system. The program calculates the stagnation and total temperature, static and total pressure, loss factor, and forces on each element in the piping system.
Flow rate effect of oxygen-argon mixture on Zr oxidation studied to determine exclusion as factor in Zr weight increase
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Deceleration probe constructed of two concentric tubes with separator inlet operates successfully in flow fields where ratio of droplet flow rate to gas flow rate ranges from 1.0 to 20, and eliminates problems of local flow field disturbances and flooding. Probe is effective tool for characterization of liquid droplet/gas spray fields.
Several carbon dioxide removal systems are being investigated for applications in microgravity. The liquid amine wedge system utilizes the capillary action of liquids to prevent the mixing of the air and liquid while still allowing for carbon dioxide capture at their interface. A one crew mission requires approximately 1 kg per day of carbon dioxide removal to prevent adverse health effects. A proposed design of a wedge tray system can be improved from the initial testing parameters to achieve the required carbon dioxide capture for one crew. The wedge trays in the contactor can be organized in either a parallel configuration to accumulate less CO2 in the liquid but at a higher flow rate or a series configuration to yield a higher weight percentage of CO2 in the liquid but at a lower flow rate. The gas flow rate and composition were held constant at 26scfm and 2600ppm, respectively, due to constraints of other proposed systems but the liquid flow rate was adjusted between 0.1mL/min and 10mL/min. The flow rate that yielded the best carbon dioxide capture was X mL/min and Y mL/min for the parallel and series configurations, respectively. The degasser temperature and pressure were varied from 80 to 100°C and 0 and -3 inHg. The largest carbon dioxide flux of Z kg/day/m2 was observed at a contactor liquid flow rate of X mL/min and a degasser temperature and pressure of T°C and P inHg.
Rayleigh-step, helium purge, annular shaft seals, studied for use in liquid oxygen turbopumps, generate a hydrodynamic force that enables the seal to follow shaft perturbations. Hence, smaller clearances can be used to reduce seal leakage. FLOWCAL, a computer code developed by Mechanical Technology Incorporated, predicts gas flow rate through an annular seal with an axial pressure gradient. Analysis of a 50-mm Rayleigh-step, helium-purge, annular seal showed the flow rate increased axial pressure gradient, downstream pressure, and eccentricity ratio. Increased inlet temperature reduced leakage. Predictions made at maximum and minimum clearances (due to centrifugal and thermal growths, machining tolerances and + or - 2 percent uncertainty in the clearance measurement) placed wide boundaries on expected flow rates. The widest boundaries were set by thermal growth conditions. Predicted flow rates for a 50-mm Rayleigh-step, helium-purge, annular seal underestimated measured flow rates by three to seven times. However, the analysis did accurately predict flow rates for choked gas flow through annular seals when compared to flow rates measured in two other independent studies.
Measurement of the permanent gases in the atmospheres of mission targets is a major objective. A 16 meter long Porapak N column was used on the Venus probe and required a rather high carrier gas flow rate. The researchers have, therefore, surveyed commercial porous polymer types which had some ability to resolve nitrogen, oxygen, argon and carbon monoxide gases. Porapaks N and Q appeared superior to most. Batch to batch variation, however, was quite wide, so the researchers learned how to synthesize porous polymer and investigated some of the factors affecting the separations. A polymer was synthesized which was superior to all commercial products and allowed at least a 50% reduction in length and flow rate of carrier gas. Similar studies were made concerning the separation of hydrocarbons and new porous polymers have been synthesized which represent significant improvements in time of analysis, column, and carrier gas flow rate.
The Cryogenics Test Laboratory (CTL) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) routinely utilizes cryostat test hardware to evaluate comparative and absolute thermal conductivities of a wide array of insulation systems. The test method is based on measurement of the flow rate of gas evolved due to evaporative boil-off of a cryogenic liquid. The gas flow rate typically stabilizes after a period of a couple of hours to a couple of days, depending upon the test setup. The stable flow rate value is then used to calculate the thermal conductivity for the insulation system being tested. The latest set of identical cryostats, 1,000-L spherical tanks, exhibited different behavior. On a macro level, the flow rate did stabilize after a couple of days; however the stable flow rate was oscillatory with peak to peak amplitude of up to 25 percent of the nominal value. The period of the oscillation was consistently 12 hours. The source of the oscillation has been traced to variations in atmospheric pressure due to atmospheric tides similar to oceanic tides. This paper will present analysis of this phenomenon, including a calculation that explains why other cryostats are not affected by it.
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A study on the plasma and shield gas flow patterns in variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA) welding was undertaken by shadowgraph techniques. Visualization of gas flow under different welding conditions was obtained. Undercutting is often present with aluminum welds. The effects of torch alignment, shield gas flow rate and gas contamination on undercutting were investigated and suggestions made to minimize the defect. A modified shield cup for the welding torch was fabricated which consumes much less shield gas while maintaining the weld quality. The current torch was modified with a trailer flow for Al-Li welding, in which hot cracking is a critical problem. The modification shows improved weldablility on these alloys.
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A Kaufman-type broad beam ion source, used for sputtering and etching purposes, has been operated with Ar, Kr, O2 and N2 gas inputs over a wide range of beam energies (200-1200 eV) and gas flow rates (1-10 sccm). The maximum ion beam current density for each gas saturates at about 2.5 mA/sq cm as gas flow is increased. The discharge threshold voltage necessary to produce a beam and the beam efficiency (beam current/molecular current), however, varied considerably. Kr had the lowest threshold and highest efficiency, Ar next, then N2 and O2. The ion beam current varied only weakly with beam energy for low gas flow rates, but showed a factor of two increase when the gas flow was higher.
Modifications were made to the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE) and flown on the ISS as PBRE-2 to eliminate external pressure oscillations at higher liquid flow rates and the packing diameter was reduced to increase the pressure gradient for lower flows. It is found that gas hold-up is a function of bed history at low liquid and gas flow rates whereas higher gas hold-up and pressure gradients are observed for the test conditions following a liquid only pre-flow compared to the test conditions following a gas only pre-flow period. Over the range of flow rates tested, the capillary force is the dominant contributor to the pressure gradient, which is found to be linear with the superficial liquid velocity but is a much weaker function of the superficial gas velocity, and varying inversely with the particle diameter.