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A Novel Method for Breath Capture Inside a Space SuitAny non-robotic mission to the Mars surface will need to rely on various life support technologies. The large metabolic generation rate and low tolerance to elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Mars atmosphere make CO2 removal one of the preeminent tasks in this domain. In addition, these same features provide a strong impetus for using regenerable CO2 removal technologies. In the past, many of these regenerable technologies have relied on the low partial pressure CO2 surrounding the vehicle to provide an ultimate sink for removing this gas contaminant, however any Mars mission will have to overcome the presence of the Mars atmosphere. This paper describes the investigation of methods to capture the exhaled CO2 from a suited crewmember before it becomes diluted with the high volumetric air flow present within the space suit. Typical expired air contains CO2 partial pressures in the range of 20-35 mm Hg. This research investigated methods to capture this high partial pressure CO2 prior to its dilution with the low partial pressure CO2 ventilation flow. Specifically the research looked at potential designs for a collection cup for use inside the space suit helmet. This collection cup should not be considered the same as a breathing mask typical of that worn by firefighters, etc. Instead, the collection cup is a non-contact device that makes use of detailed analyses of the ventilation flow environment within the helmet. The research used a detailed Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code called Fluent to provide modeling of the various gas species (CO2, water vapor, O2) as they pass through a helmet. This same model was used to numerically evaluate several different collection cup designs for this same CO2 segregation effort.
Document ID
20070001124
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Paul, Heather
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Filburn, Tom
(Hartford Univ. CT, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2007
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Meeting Information
Meeting: 34th International Conference on Environmental Systems
Location: Chicago, IL
Country: United States
Start Date: July 9, 2007
End Date: July 12, 2007
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 384.06.04.01.05.10
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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