Investigation of the Filtration of Lunar Dust Simulants at Low Pressures

摘要

Airborne lunar dust will pose significant challenges to atmospheric filtration systems on lunar landers and habitats. Reliance on particulate filters to scrub airborne lunar dust from recycled cabin air will depend on tested performance with high-fidelity lunar dust simulants under proper flow conditions. NASA's Lunar Dust Filtration Testing Facility was specifically designed to provide this type of testing capability. The facility simulates the atmosphere in pressurized cabins of lunar surface systems; that is, a closed-loop volume at reduced pressure as well as the anticipated particulate environment using lunar-dust-laden flows. The available diagnostics provide techniques to characterize the particulate transport of the simulant dust and quantify filter performance. Optical particle counters are used to provide high-fidelity concentration measurements and filter efficiency data. Laser light sheet imaging provides confirmation of the particle flow velocities. A series of tests were performed on a set of reference commercial filters with different performance characteristics. Results of the diagnostic testing and filter performance will be presented.