Zhileng xuebao (Jan 2025)
Research on Heat and Mass Transfer Performance of Copper Foam Condensation Dehumidification Core for Space Station
Abstract
To address the demands for high-efficiency heat transfer and compact lightweight design in space stations, a high-efficiency condensation dehumidification system utilizing copper foam and driven by a Stirling refrigerator was developed. An experimental study was conducted to investigate its heat and mass transfer characteristics under various conditions. The experimental parameters were set as follows: air inlet temperature ranging from 20 to 30 °C, relative humidity between 50 % and 80 %, cold plate temperature from 8 to 13 °C, and inlet wind speed from 0.4 to 1.4 m/s. The results indicate a positive correlation between the increase in air inlet temperature and the enhancement of both heat transfer coefficient and mass transfer coefficient. Specifically, when the air inlet temperature increased from 20 °C to 30 °C, the heat transfer coefficient rose by 10.5 %, while the mass transfer coefficient exhibited a more substantial increase of 57.1 %. Furthermore, variations in the relative humidity of the air inlet had distinct impacts on the heat and mass transfer coefficients: the heat transfer coefficient decreased with increasing relative humidity, whereas the mass transfer coefficient increased. Notably, although lowering the cold plate temperature can significantly improve heat transfer, it concurrently diminishes the efficiency of heat and mass transfer. Therefore, selecting an appropriate cold plate temperature is crucial. Additionally, the efficiency of heat and mass transfer was markedly enhanced with increasing inlet wind speed; however, a continuous increase in wind speed resulted in higher system energy consumption. Thus, a balance between achieving efficient heat transfer and managing system energy consumption is essential. Based on extensive experimental data, the heat transfer model was refined through regression analysis. The relative average deviation between theoretical and experimental values was found to be 8.97 %, with a relative standard deviation of 8.21 %, demonstrating the model's strong predictive accuracy.
