Oxygen generation subsystem for spacecraft

Abstract

Recovery of oxygen from water will be needed on future long-duration manned space missions. An oxygen generation subsystem (OGS) for NASA based on the alkaline electrolyte, static feed water electrolysis concept. Recent advances in hardware development have resulted in the design, fabrication and testing of a self-contained, one-person capacity OGS (WS-1). This subsystem consists of three major parts: a six-cell electrochemical module to generate the product O2, a coolant control assembly to maintain module temperature and a pressure controller which maintains product gas pressures. The subsystem provides 0. 82 kg/d O2 while operating at a current density of 206 mA/ sq cm, a temperature of 339 K and a pressure of 1240 kPa.