Experimental Studies of a Water/gas Separator Using Hydrophilic Micro-filtration Membrane under Simulated Microgravity / 航天医学与医学工程

ABSTRACT

Objective To study a technology for separating water from gas under microgravity in long-term manned space flight.Methods Several kinds of mixture of water and oxygen were separated by a new water/gas separating matrix and the action of gravity on the process was studied.Results The water/gas separator worked well in the range of gas flow below 2 500 mL/min and water flow below 4～6 L/h.A mixture of gas and water was separated into gas containing no water containing less than 1% gas.The phenomenon of a little oxygen existing in the water flow was explained.It was also found that gravity has nothing to do with the separation.Conclusion Hydrophilic porous membrane can be used to separate water from gas,and further works were continue needed to study the process and to resolve a few problems about water/gas separation under microgravity.