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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
Through this CESO project, the KSC Cryogenics Test Laboratory (CTL), in partnership with Eta Space LLC, in Rockledge, Florida, aimed to complete integrated testing of an Electro-Chemical Hydrogen Refrigeration (ECHR) system capable of producing net positive refrigeration at liquid hydrogen (LH2) temperatures with no moving parts. Most ECHR test hardware had been initially developed by NASA KSC and commercial partner Meta Vista as part of a 2018 Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), Center Innovation Fund (CIF) project of the same name, including design and construction of the cold-box portion of the system at the CTL, and procurement of the electro-chemical hydrogen compressor from an outside vendor. However, due to major delays in delivery of the compressor, final integrated system testing was never accomplished as part of the CIF project. Since then, the compressor was delivered to Meta Vista, and checkout testing was successfully accomplished by their affiliate Eta Space. By bringing together the cold-box hardware, which had been held in storage at the CTL (Figure 1, left and middle pictures), with the compressor at Eta Space (Figure 1 right), testing would be carried out at Eta Space’s facility. This will draw upon Eta Space’s in-house expertise in conducting many safe and successful cryogenic hydrogen test campaigns, with two primary goals: 1) demonstrate the system could achieve saturated LH2 temperatures close to the normal boiling point of 20 K while running in closed loop, with a target of 22 K, and 2) characterize the isothermal refrigeration power at the saturation point, with a target of 1 W @ 22 K.
Ways in which the ECHR concept can be used in future space missions for both government and private include liquid cryogenic zero boil off, liquefaction and storage of In Situ Propellant Production (ISPP) of cryogenic propellants, and cryocoolers for remote sensing and infrared detectors.
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