Patent — available for licensing
System and Method for Fluid Dynamic Mass Gauging
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
The accurate measurement of the remaining fluid in a tank is an essential measurement for safe space operations. However, accurately measuring an unknown volume of liquid in microgravity presents significant challenges. Mass measurement systems such as the Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device (SLAMMD), the Zero Gravity Mass Measurement Device (ZGMMD), and the Body Mass Measurement Device (BMMD) have been used to attempt such measurements, but with only limited success. By these approaches, the tank to be measured has to be able to be moved, and that movement needs to be regular and constant. Thus, any fixed, rigid tank, such as the Water Storage System (WSS) Resupply Tank (RST) that is currently in use on the International Space Station, cannot be measured accurately by these methods. NASA Ames has developed a Fluid Dynamic Mass Gauging (FDMG) system to accurately determine the volume of an incompressible fluid within a tank via measurement of the remaining compressible volume within the tank.