Test & measurement
Launch rocket H-IIB on 22 September 2018
Pressure transmitters
in space O
KELLER’s absolute and differential pressure transmitters are being used to regulate the
essential process of recycling CO2 that an Advanced Closed Loop System will carry out on the International Space Station
n 22 September 2018, a Japanese H-IIB rocket launched the HTV supply vessel containing
the ACLS (Advanced Closed Loop System) module destined for the International Space Station (ISS). The
ACLS is tasked with “recycling” CO2 from the air in the spacecraft and generating fresh oxygen for the crew by means of electrolysis. KELLER has developed and manufactured highly reliable absolute and differential pressure transmitters to regulate these processes. The International Space Station moves
around the Ear th at some 400km above its surface. As barely any oxygen is present at this altitude, it must either be supplied from the ground or generated on board the ISS. Bringing oxygen to outer space is expensive, with transpor tation costs for 1kg of payload coming in at around
€33,000. It is therefore a good idea to try to process the air exhaled by the astronauts in order to generate oxygen that can be inhaled again. This is the purpose of the ACLS, which
was transpor ted to the American Destiny module (US laboratory) on 22 September 2018. Airbus developed the ACLS on behalf of the European Space Agency ESA. In the ACLS cycle, oxygen is generated by the carbon dioxide from the cabin air being turned into methane and water using hydrogen obtained from splitting water molecules and adding energy. The electrolysis process extracts breathable oxygen from the water. According to Airbus, the system is designed for a crew of three astronauts and saves 450kg of additional water load per year. At full performance, the ACLS extracts 3kg of CO2, supplies 2.5kg of oxygen and
Absolute and differential pressure transmitters for the ISS
28
August 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
© dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82
