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Demonstration of Metabolic Heat Regenerated Temperature Swing Adsorption TechnologyPatent-pending Metabolic heat regenerated Temperature Swing Adsorption (MTSA) technology is currently being investigated for removal and rejection of CO2 and heat from a Portable Life Support System (PLSS) to a Martian environment. The metabolically-produced CO2 present in the vent loop gas is collected using a CO2 selective adsorbent that has been cooled via a heat exchanger to near CO2 sublimation temperatures (approx.195K) with liquid CO2 obtained from Martian resources. Once the adsorbent is fully loaded, fresh warm, moist vent loop (approx.300K) is used to heat the adsorbent via another heat exchanger. The adsorbent will then reject the collected CO2 to the Martian ambient. Two beds are used to achieve continuous CO2 removal by cycling between the cold and warm conditions for adsorbent loading and regeneration, respectively. Small experiments have already been completed to show that an adsorbent can be cycled between these PLSS operating conditions to provide adequate conditions for CO2 removal from a simulated vent loop. One of the remaining technical challenges is extracting enough heat from the vent loop to warm the adsorbent in an appreciable time frame to meet the required adsorb/desorb cycle. The other key technical aspect of the technology is employing liquid CO2 to achieve the appropriate cooling. A technology demonstrator has been designed, built and tested to investigate the feasibility of 1) warming the adsorbent using the moist vent loop, 2) cooling the adsorbent using liquid CO2, and 3) using these two methods in conjunction to successfully remove CO2 from a vent loop and reject it to Mars ambient. Both analytical and numerical methods were used to perform design calculations and trades. The demonstrator was built and tested. The design analysis and testing results are presented along with recommendations for future development required to increase the maturity of the technology.
Document ID
20070001005
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Paul, Heather
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Iacomini, Christine
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
Powers, Aaron
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
Dunham, Jonah
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
Straub-Lopez, Katie
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
Anerson, Grant
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
MacCallum, Taber
(Paragon Space Development Corp. AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2007
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Meeting Information
Meeting: 37th International Conference on Environmental Systems
Location: Chicago, IL
Country: United States
Start Date: July 9, 2007
End Date: July 12, 2007
Sponsors: Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 384.06.04.01.05.10
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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