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| Heat Exchange Unit Evaluation |
| DTO 686 |
| Prime: Daniel Barry |
| Backup: Julie Payette |
| Overview |
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This DTO will evaluate a commercial portable heat exchange unit that uses water as the refrigerant and identify possible uses on the space shuttle. Chilling is caused by the evaporation of the water in the unit under reduced pressure obtained from the vacuum of space. Since water and vacuum are abundant resources on the shuttle, the unit has a potentially extensive chilling capacity. The heat exchange unit also has a unique internal feature that controls the water vaporization rate while maximizing the heat exchange during the process. The system performed well in demonstrations under gravity conditions, and in theory, should perform equally as well in microgravity. Beverages, ice cream, and other items are chilled by exposing them to the outer surface of the heat exchange unit, which is smaller than a beverage can. The vacuum for operating the device is provided by the orbiter's waste control system vacuum port or the waste water overboard dump system. The unit can operate for up to 12 hours. This is the first of three planned flights of DTO 686. |
Editorial/Technical Comments: ShuttlePresskit
