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Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR)
06.05.09
Scientists and payload developers can get more information on International Space Station research facilities by contacting the ISS Payloads Office or at 281-244-6187.

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Facility/Payload Overview

Brief Facility Summary

The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion experiments in microgravity.

Facility Manager(s)

  • Terrence O'Malley, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

    • Co-Facility Manager(s)

    Information Pending

    Facility Developer

    Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    |19|20|21|22|

    Previous ISS Missions

    Information Pending

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    Facility/Payload Description

    Facility Summary

    • The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) will provide sustained, systematic microgravity combustion research.


    • CIR will house hardware capable of performing combustion experiments to further research of combustion in microgravity.

    Description

    The Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) will accommodate the unique challenges of working with fluids and combustion processes in microgravity, as well as to provide services and capabilities comparable to those found in traditional Earth-based laboratories. The FCF will occupy two powered racks on the International Space Station (ISS), the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) and the Fluids Integration Rack (FIR). It will be a permanent modular, multiuser facility to accommodate microgravity science experiments onboard the ISS. The FCF will support sustained, systematic research in the disciplines of fluid physics and combustion science.

    The Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) is used to perform combustion experiments in microgravity. The CIR is designed to be easily reconfigured on-orbit to accommodate a wide variety of combustion experiments. It consists of an optics bench, a combustion chamber, a fuel and oxidizer management system, environmental management systems, interfaces for science diagnostics and experiment specific equipment. For diagnostic purposes, there will be 5 different cameras available for use by the investigator. The CIR features a 100-liter combustion chamber surrounded by optical and other diagnostic packages including a gas chromatograph. Experiments are conducted in the chamber by remote control from the Glenn Research Center (GRC) Telescience Support Center (TSC).

    The CIR has been designed for use with the Passive Rack Isolation System (PaRIS), which connects the rack to the ISS structure though the use of eight spring-damper isolators and by a special set of umbilicals. The findings of the modeling and analysis show that PaRIS can attenuate much of the U.S. Laboratory vibration environment and provide a much quieter scientific environment than a simple hard mounted rack. The CIR is the only facility on-board the ISS to perform combustion research experimentation.

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    Operations

    Facility Operations

    The CIR chamber can operate at low (0.02atm) or high (up to 3atm) atmospheric pressures. Tools are not required to open the chamber or to change or service the eight windows on the chamber. Gases are delivered through the bottles on the front of the rack. The exhaust package features a filter which can recycle the gas used or convert it into an expellable gas type. It can be used in the exploration of droplet combustion, solid fuel combustion, and gaseous fuel combustion.

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    Results/More Information

    Information Pending

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    Availability

  • On-Board ISS

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    Related Web Sites
  • NASA Technical Memorandum 2002
  • NASA Technical Memorandum 2005

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications

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        Images

        imageCIR training unit with the rack doors open in the Payload Development Laboratory II at Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.
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        imageThe CIR Flight Unit at Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH.
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        imageNASA image: ISS018E35752 Sandra Magnus as she works with the Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF CIR) in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) in US Laboratory Destiny during maintenance.
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        imageVideo Screen Shot of MDCA-FLEX Ignition 1 on March 5, 2009 (GMT 64/17:21) inside CIR. The methanol fuel droplet being formed on tip of needle (droplet size approximately 2.5 mm). Image courtesy of NASA.
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        Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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