INFERNITYFLAME IN FREEFALL

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Attribute
Hardware groupMDCA group
Pillars
Suppression
Fuel phaseLiquid
MaterialSingle and paired fuel droplets, including bi-component and surrogate fuels
ShapeSingle droplets, binary droplet arrays, and tethered droplets in convection
SizeDroplets 2 to 4 mm in diameter
O2 concentrationVaried / not specified
PressureVaried / not specified
AirflowVaried / not specified
FacilityMulti-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR)
Module / vehicleInternational Space Station
Sensors
  • High-speed color and video imaging
  • Radiometers
  • Soot volume fraction diagnostics
  • Droplet position and fiber-support instrumentation
Variables tested
  • Pure fuels versus fuel mixtures and surrogates
  • Sub-buoyant convective flow around a tethered droplet
  • Droplet-droplet interactions in a binary array
  • Inter-droplet spacing and ambient composition
ObjectivesExtend droplet combustion research to flowing environments, interacting droplets and practical multicomponent fuels, producing validated models of real-fuel combustion.
Key findings
  • Studied single droplets, binary droplet arrays and tethered droplets under controlled sub-buoyant flow.
  • Examined liquid-phase mixing in bi-component and surrogate fuels as they vaporize and burn.
  • Quantified soot formation and droplet-droplet interactions in a spherically symmetric geometry.
  • Four experiment groupings each involved roughly 30 to 60 tests.
Relevant environments
Spacecraft cabinSpace station
SourceNASA PSI