Microelectronic thermal valve
AssigneePurdue Research Foundation
InventorsAlina Alexeenko, Anthony George Cofer, Stephen Douglas Heister
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microfabricated valve with no moving parts. In one embodiment, the valve includes a reservoir of a liquid that is in fluid communication with an outlet channel having a throat that is less than 100 microns wide. Preferably, the channel is an elongated slit. The configuration of channel is adapted and configured such that surface tension of the liquid prevents flow out of the channel. A heater increases the temperature of the meniscus of the fluid, until a portion of the fluid is ejected from the channel. The ejection of the fluid creates both a thrusting effect and a cooling effect.
Claims14
A system using water and ambient conditions for applying a thrust to a spacecraft, comprising:
- a channel having an inlet and an exit;
- and
- a resistive heater located at the inlet;
- wherein the resistive heater is operable to generate a heat, the channel is operable to be blocked by a surface tension of the water in response to an absence of an application of the heat to the water, and the channel is operable to permit an ejection of the water from the exit to the ambient conditions in response to a change in a physical property of the water caused by an application of the heat to the water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.