At 10:58 AM 06/06/2002, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >My key concern is having the regulator on the high pressure tank >freeze up if we used standard air from a scuba-type compressor. >In other words, is the 'dry air' that is OK for scuba applications, >sufficient enough to avoid freezing during *very fast* pressurant >tank blowdowns?
Flow rate isn't that much different, which surprised me. We'll be pressuring at about 1.5 liters/sec, or 90 liters/min, which is a lot. But, a SCUBA regulator has to deliver air at the rate the diver inhales, and a diver working hard can inhale at 60 liters/min. He probably shouldn't, but limiting his air supply when he's working hard is a good way to get a panicked diver (the technical term for panicked diver is "corpse"), so the regulator will be capable of a good deal more than he is. We would be OK with a SCUBA compressor. We'd be even more OK getting our tanks refilled at a SCUBA shop; some shops charge $10/tank, and others don't charge anything (they're hoping you'll by their dive gear - since we won't be buying dive gear, we should make a token payment even if it's free). Let someone else worry about the maintenance on the compressor. >I don't have the same concern for the main tank, >as the thermal mass of the peroxide should prevent any freezing. Oh yeah. Open eyes, engage brain... >Besides, the adiabatic heating should cause the N2/air going into >the main tank to get warmer than ambient. That's at prop tank pressurization, isn't it? And that assumes the prop tank isn't full of propellant. I think the prop tank will cool to near ambient between pressurization and firing. Of course, as our procedures get better, that becomes less and less true... -R -- No electrons were harmed in the creation of this message PETE - People for the Ethical Treatment of Electrons Randall Clague [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
