The Pressurant Loading Equipment (PLE) is a pressurization unit mounted on a trolley, made of stainless steel and equipped with handles and four swivel wheels with brakes.
The front panel features pressure gauges, pressure regulators and manual control valves, as well as a silk-screened functional diagram.
Inside the trolley, there is a compressor with all necessary piping, including filters and safety valves.
The PLE is designed to pressurize helium tanks to their initial mission pressure of 293 bar.
Furthermore, the equipment can pressurize gas and propellant tanks during development and testing across various
pressure ranges, up to a test pressure of 439 bar.
Tanks can be depressurized either by venting gas into the environment or by recovering helium. The helium compressor is powered by a compressed air/GN supply system, up to 10 bar.
