Engineering topics

Carter, Donald L.

Publications and source records attributed to Carter, Donald L..

7 records

NASA NTRS2016

Selection of a Brine Processor Technology for NASA Manned Missions

The current ISS Water Recovery System (WRS) reclaims water from crew urine, humidity condensate, and Sabatier product water. Urine is initially processed by the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) which recovers 75% of the urine as distillate. The remainder of the water is present in the waste brine which is currently disposed of as trash on ISS. For future missions this additional water must be reclaimed due to the significant resupply penalty for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). NASA has pursued various technology development programs for a brine processor in the past several years. This effort has culminated in a technology down-select to identify the optimum technology for future manned missions. The technology selection is based on various criteria, including mass, power, reliability, maintainability, and safety. Beginning in 2016 the selected technology will be transitioned to a flight hardware program for demonstration on ISS. This paper summarizes the technology selection process, the competing technologies, and the rationale for the technology selected for future manned missions.

Carter, Donald L.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Upgrades to the ISS Water Recovery System

The International Space Station Water Recovery System (WRS) is comprised of the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) and the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). The WRS produces potable water from a combination of crew urine (first processed through the UPA), crew latent, and Sabatier product water. Though the WRS has performed well since operations began in November 2008, several modifications have been identified to improve the overall system performance. These modifications can reduce resupply and improve overall system reliability, which is beneficial for the ongoing ISS mission as well as for future NASA manned missions. The following paper details efforts to reduce the resupply mass of the WPA Multifiltration Bed, develop improved catalyst for the WPA Catalytic Reactor, evaluate optimum operation of UPA through parametric testing, and improve reliability of the UPA fluids pump and Distillation Assembly.

Kayatin, Matthew J.↗

NASA NTRS2006

A Water Recovery System Evolved for Exploration

A new water recovery system designed towards fulfillment of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration is presented. This water recovery system is an evolution of the current state-of-the-art system. Through novel integration of proven technologies for air and water purification, this system promises to elevate existing technology to higher levels of optimization. The novel aspect of the system is twofold: Volatile organic contaminants will be removed from the cabin air via catalytic oxidation in the vapor phase, prior to their absorption into the aqueous phase, and vapor compression distillation technology will be used to process the condensate and hygiene waste streams in addition to the urine waste stream. Oxidation kinetics dictate that removal of volatile organic contaminants from the vapor phase is more efficient. Treatment of the various waste streams by VCD will reduce the load on the expendable ion exchange and adsorption media which follow, and on the aqueous-phase volatile removal assembly further downstream. Incorporating these advantages will reduce the weight, volume, and power requirements of the system, as well as resupply.

ORourke, Mary Jane E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Catalytic oxidation for treatment of ECLSS and PMMS waste streams

Catalytic oxidation was added to the baseline multifiltration technology for use on the Space Station Freedom in order to convert low-molecular weight organic waste components such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amides, and thiocarbamides to CO2 at low temperature (121 C), thereby reducing the total organic carbon (TOC) to below 500 ppb. The rate of reaction for the catalytic oxidation of aqueous organics to CO2 and water depends primarily upon the catalyst, temperature, and concentration of reactants. This paper describes a kinetic study conducted to determine the impact of each of these parameters upon the reaction rate. The results indicate that a classic kinetic model, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood rate equation for heterogeneous catalysis, can accurately represent the functional dependencies of this rate.

Akse, James R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Determination of organic carbon and ionic accountability of various waste and product waters derived from ECLSS water recovery tests and Spacelab humidity condensate

The development of a closed-loop water recovery system for Space Station Freedom involves many technical challenges associated with contaminant removal. Attention is presently given to the characterization of contaminants constituting total organic carbon (TOC), and to the Hubaux and Vos (1970) statistical model for low level TOC that has been employed. A tabulation is given for TOC accountability in the case of both potable and hygiene waters.

Carter, Donald L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Preliminary ECLSS waste water model

A preliminary waste water model for input to the Space Station Freedom (SSF) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Water Processor (WP) has been generated for design purposes. Data have been compiled from various ECLSS tests and flight sample analyses. A discussion of the characterization of the waste streams comprising the model is presented, along with a discussion of the waste water model and the rationale for the inclusion of contaminants in their respective concentrations. The major objective is to establish a methodology for the development of a waste water model and to present the current state of that model.

Carter, Donald L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

ECLSS regenerative systems comparative testing and subsystem selection

In support of Space Station Freedom Phase C/D Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) regenerative systems development, comparative testing was performed on predevelopment hardware of competing technologies for each regenerative function. The purpose of the test program was to collect data on latest generation hardware in order to make final technology selections for each subassembly in the oxygen recovery and water reclamation strings. This paper discusses the testing performed, test results, and evaluation of these results relative to subsystem selections for CO2 reduction, O2 generation, potable water processing, hygiene water processing, and urine processing.

Carasquillo, Robyn L.↗