Exergy based parametric analysis of a cooling and power co-generation system for the life support system of extravehicular spacesuits

Shengnan Wang, Yunhua Li, Yun-Ze Li, Xing Peng and Yufeng Mao

Renewable Energy, 2018, vol. 115, issue C, 1209-1219

Abstract: Providing electric power and managing the thermal condition for the astronaut are two of the essential functions of the spacesuit life support system in a distance extravehicular activity. This paper proposed a new conceptual portable life support system which combines the cooling and power supply functions for the astronauts with the metal-hydride, fuel cell and absorption chiller. The cooling and power balance models were developed on basis of the first-law of thermodynamics. The second-law based entropy generation, exergy destruction and exergetic efficiency models of the integrated life support system were established. A parametric study was performed to evaluate the effects of varying working conditions, including the hydride metal types, operating temperatures of the fuel cells, heat transfer effectiveness of the evaporator and the concentration of the working fluid pair used in the absorption chiller, on the exergy-based performance of the new life support system. Results indicate that the energetic efficiency and the exergetic efficiency of the integrated PLSS can up to 86.98% and 59.07% respectively.

Keywords: Fuel cell; Metal hydride; Life support system; Cooling and power co-generation; Absorption chiller; Exergy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148117308169
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:115:y:2018:i:c:p:1209-1219

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.08.058

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().