Supported by ESA and Airbus Defence and Space, the Institute of Fluid Mechanics of Toulouse (IMFT) led by Prof. Catherine Colin designed a small compact loop for the study of flow boiling in weightlessness, fitting a circuit with a pump, a flow meter, preheaters, a condenser and associated tubing within the strictly limited volume available.

“This loop is planned to be installed aboard the ISS’s Columbus module, perhaps in the new version of the European Drawer Rack, EDR2,” explains Balazs Toth, ESA payload system engineer.