Development Status of Amine-based, Combined Humidity, CO₂ and Trace Contaminant Control System for CEV

Abstract

Under a NASA-sponsored technology development project, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of industry, academia, and government organizations lead by Hamilton Sundstrand is developing an amine-based humidity and CO2 removal process and prototype equipment for Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) applications. Originally this project sought to research enhanced amine formulations and incorporate a trace contaminant control capability into the sorbent. In October 2005, NASA re-directed the project team to accelerate the delivery of hardware by approximately one year and emphasize deployment on board the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) as the near-term developmental goal. Preliminary performance requirements were defined based on nominal and off-nominal conditions and the design effort was initiated using the baseline amine sorbent, SA9T. As part of the original project effort, basic sorbent development was continued with the University of Connecticut and dynamic equilibrium trace contaminant adsorption characteristics were evaluated by NASA. This paper summarizes the University sorbent research effort, the basic trace contaminant loading characteristics of the SA9T sorbent, design support testing, and the status of the full-scale system hardware design and manufacturing effort. IntroductionLong-duration crewed space explorations missions benefit significantly from using regenerable process technologies to minimize re-supply logistics. Current methods of CO2 removal for aerospace life support systems include non-regenerable lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and regenerable systems that employ silver oxide, solid amines, or molecular sieves. In 2004, a 3-year rapid technology development project was initiated with the objective of delivering a prototype regenerable, amine-based system that combines CO2, humidity, and trace contaminant (TC) control within a single processing unit operation. The project team includes members from industry, academia, and NASA.