the center for advancement of science in space (casis) and the national science foundation (nsf) announced three projects have been selected from the fields of combustion and thermal transport to receive up to $900,000 in funding for the opportunity to continue testing on the international space station (iss).

the grant funding will allow the studies to continue on the international space station.
(wikimedia commons)

the announcement explained, “through this partnership, casis and nasa will facilitate hardware implementation and on-orbit access to the iss national laboratory.  nsf will fund the selected projects to advance fundamental science and engineering knowledge.”

being selected for this opportunity is important for the researchers because of the unique microgravity environment of the iss national laboratory.

“many processes that affect the behavior of systems on earth, such as thermal convection, sedimentation, hydrostatic pressure, and buoyancy, are absent in microgravity,” the announcement added. “the elimination of these variables allows phenomena of interest to be studied without gravitational interference.”

the first project selected was the study of fire behavior and how flame spreads in confined spaces being conducted by researchers at case western reserve university and the universities space research association. the goal is to understand flame behavior in different conditions to enable safer guidelines and improved fire safety codes. in particular, the researchers will study how microgravity affects radiative heat feedback.

the second project, from researchers at the university of maryland, washington university, and the university of california – san diego, is studying spherical cool diffusion flames that burn at low temperatures. this is of particular interest for combustion devices, such as engines. the iss is the only platform to observe cool flames and the researchers will be focusing on gaseous hydrocarbon fuels.

the third project is of particular interest to coolingzone. the study, being conducted by researchers from auburn university and the university of california – davis, will “enable the mobility of vapor bubbles in the absence of gravity-driven buoyancy from surfaces experiencing boiling.”

the researchers have developed a novel textured surface that produces movement in vapor bubbles without using external forces and they will be testing whether those surfaces can create mobility of the bubbles in microgravity.

as the announcement noted, “the long-term goal is to develop a simple, passive, self-regulating technology for heat sinks used in consumer electronics and aircraft electronics.”

“nsf is thrilled to offer researchers the chance to conduct studies in the microgravity environment onboard the iss national laboratory,” said dawn tilbury, nsf assistant director for engineering. “with these experiments in space, nsf grantees will help us understand fundamental aspects of heat and flame that cannot be isolated on earth and that will help protect and improve the lives of all americans.”

“casis is excited to continue its relationship with the nsf through these selected investigations that will make their way to the iss national laboratory,” said casis chief scientist dr. randy giles. “this marks the second collaboration between casis and the nsf, with hopes of continued research opportunities in the future to expand on a multitude of scientific disciplines. for this award announcement, our team is very eager to advance combustion studies on the iss national laboratory, and we look forward to these three investigations increasing that knowledge base for the benefit of humanity.”