Continuous Charging of Spacecraft Fuel Cells by Hydrogen and Oxygen, Obtained in a Specially Designed Separator, Powered by a Solar Panel, During Long-term Space Flight

Abstract

The flight control of the spacecraft (SC) is carried out at the expense of onboard electrical power. The onboard electric power supply of the spacecraft ensures the functioning of all its instruments and equipment (propulsion system, controls, communication systems, instrument complex, heating, etc.). The power supply system of a spacecraft is the most important system that ensures both the life of the spacecraft itself and the crew that controls this apparatus. The power supply system of the spacecraft is based on the generation of direct electric current, which is used by most of the instruments and equipment of the spacecraft. Today, the main generator of direct electric current of in spacecraft is a generator that converts any energy (chemical, light, or nuclear) into electrical energy under space flight conditions. Here, the following three sources have found the greatest practical application in spacecraft in space flight, converting chemical energy directly into electrical energy with a high efficiency (about 70%): galvanic cells, batteries, and fuel cells, taken from the Earth. Especially among them stand out fuel cells, in which hydrogen and oxygen are used as “"fuel and oxygen.”". The fuel cell directly converts chemical energy into electrical energy with through water formationing and heat generation. Fuel cells, unlike electric batteries, operate until the fuel (fuel and oxidizer-–hydrogen and oxygen) is completely used, coming from an external source; they do not require recharging during operation. Under weightless conditions in tanks with supercritical liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, taken from the Earth, the resulting gaseous hydrogen and oxygen are separated from, respectively, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which makes their use useless. Therefore, for mixing the resulting gaseous hydrogen and oxygen with, respectively, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, a special mixer was developed and installed on the spacecraft. The fuel cell of a spacecraft is drastically complicated by the continuous supply of hydrogen and oxygen to it, which is unsafe (an example of this is the accident that occurred during the flight of Apollo 13). The article presents the developed method and an separator-electrolyzer, powered by a solar panel, installed in open space, for the continuous supply of hydrogen and oxygen of spacecraft fuel cells in space flight conditions directly from a specially designed conical separator-electrolyzer, operating on the basis of obtaining separately concentrated gas-liquid mixtures: negatively charged electrolytic hydrogen bubbles, formed in the near-anode zone along the entire length of the anode and positively charged electrolytic oxygen bubbles, formed in the near-cathode zone along the entire length of the cathode, during the water electrolysis process due to the electrostatic attraction of differently charged mixtures and differently charged potentials on the meshes of the anode and cathode. The conical shape of the developed separator-electrolyzer and its outlets under weightless conditions allows separate discharge of two gas-liquid mixtures into different ampoules, equipped with static separators that generate separately hydrogen and oxygen in a continuous mode. The developed method and separator-electrolyzer make it possible to provide fuel cells safely and economically continuously with hydrogen and oxygen for their constant charging.