New concepts for the avoidance or utilisation of methane in life support systems

Kenn, Franz

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2011.04.013

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…A thruster could pyrolyze the methane, recycle the hydrogen, and use the carbon for propulsion. (Kenn 2011) (Kenn 2010) …”

Section: B Propulsion Massmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sources and Uses of Methane in Space

Jones

2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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This paper describes possible sources and uses of methane in future human space missions. Space life support systems that recycle crew-produced carbon dioxide, as done on the International Space Station, produce methane and water by the Sabatier process. Methane can be made from the carbon dioxide in the Marian atmosphere. It can also be produced from spacecraft waste. Methane can be used in solid oxide fuel cells or in liquid methane rockets instead of hydrogen. It can also be used as a supply gas for chemical production.Design Reference Mission EDL = Entry, Descent, and Landing ERTD = Engineering Research and Technology Development ESAS = Exploration Systems Architecture Study ETDP = Exploration Technology Development Program H 2 = Hydrogen H 2 O = Water Isp = Specific impulse ISS = International Space Station LEO = Low Earth Orbit LCH 4 = Liquid methane LH 2 = Liquid hydrogen LNG = Liquid Natural Gas LOX = Liquid oxygen MAV = Mars Ascent Vehicle MSFC = Marshall Space Flight Center NRC = National Research Council O 2 = Oxygen PCAD = Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development PEMFC = Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell SM = Service Module SOFC = Solid Oxide Fuel Cell SSF = Space Station Freedom TRL = Technology Readiness Level USPM = United States Propulsion Module USPS = United States Propulsion System

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“…A thruster could pyrolyze the methane, recycle the hydrogen, and use the carbon for propulsion. (Kenn 2011) (Kenn 2010) …”

Section: B Propulsion Massmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sources and Uses of Methane in Space

Jones

2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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“…Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as a harmful gas must be removed from exhaled air. Therefore, the reaction of converting wasted CO 2 and hydrogen into water and methane [1][2][3] is often used to realize closed-loop air revitalization and reduce water supplementation from earth. This is termed as the Sabatier reaction as the following Eq.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization and simulation of the Sabatier reaction process in a packed bed

et al. 2016

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The Sabatier reaction in a testing packed bed was investigated experimentally and theoretically, and was used to convert waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen to provide needed water for closing the life-support loop on orbit in space. A three-dimensional model including fluid flow, gas dispersion, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reaction was developed by coupling some semi-empirical correlated equations in chemical engineering science into computational fluid dynamics theory. Good agreements between the simulating results and experimental data for the effect of some parameters on reaction verified this model, for example, heat exchange between reactor and atmosphere, the material property of reactor, the catalyst deactivated and gas mass flux and so on. By using this model as the designing tools, an optimized packed bed is proposed. Compared with the testing packed bed, the relevant reactor length can be reduced from 220 to 150 mm with the same hydrogen conversion and lower pressure drop. V C 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 00: 000-000, 2016

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