PARAGON SPACE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N162-127

Description

Paragon proposes the Gravity-assisted Inertial Phase Separation (GIPS) concept to meet the Navys need for a robust phase separation technology that operates in the dynamic motion environment of a sea going vessel. This compact concept uses an actively driven two-stage approach to separate liquid out of a mixed phase inlet without introducing any additional pressure drop nor complicated supporting architecture in a two-phase pumped cooling loop. It draws minimal power by harnessing gravity in the first stage and superimposing it with vortex driven inertial forces to separate the bulk of the liquid while guaranteeing a wetted liquid outlet. The second stage employs a mechanical centrifugal action based upon the proven rotary separation technology developed by our implementation partner, Honeywell. The combination of these stages provides a robust, low power, highly reliable phase separation technology that can simplify high performance cooling system design and ensure liquid-only supply to the refrigerant pump. Paragon brings to this effort its expertise in thermal control systems and two-phase hardware development, and through its partnership with Honeywell a large portfolio of commercial research in two-phase cooling technologies, high reliability sensors, valves, pumps and other hardware fundamental to such systems.