Browsing by Author "Boyce, Stephanie"

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Brine Processor Assembly 2023-24: Operational Successes and Challenges on the International Space Station
(2024 International Conference on Environmnetal Systems, 2024-07-21) Boyce, Stephanie; Joyce, Connor; Pasadilla, Patrick; Palmer, Travis; Wilson, Jonathan P.; Williamson, Jill; Toon, Katherine
The Brine Processor Assembly (BPA), developed by Paragon Space Development Corporation as a one-year technology demonstration, has now been in operation onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for three years. BPA recovers available water from urine-brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) via forced convection of cabin air coupled with a patented membrane distillation process. A dual-layer ionomer and microporous membrane-based bladder retains the liquid brine while water vapor pervaporates into the cabin, for collection as humidity condensate. This paper will discuss updated performance results as well as the practical operational challenges of maintaining hardware on the ISS. In August 2023, BPA operations were automatically halted when the Brine Leak Alarm annunciated. Crew opened the BPA to confirm that there was no actual leakage of brine, upon which it was discovered that corrosion had developed on the Brine Leak Sensor. Paragon has been working with NASA to extend the life of the sensor and safely operate BPA, as well as to launch the spare replacement component. As of May 2024, 41 full operational runs have been completed spanning 612 days of active operations, recovering an estimated 741 kg (L) of water from urine-brine. This represents a cost savings of over $80 million from the mass of water that has not needed to be launched to or discarded on ISS, minus the cost of consumables (bladders and odor filters). The BPA currently has an impressive 6x water-to-up mass recovery ratio, meaning BPA has recovered 6x as much water as the mass of the BPA hardware itself and all consumables (bladders, spares, and odor filters). This has helped NASA to claim 98% water recovery on ISS, achieving an essential capability to enable human exploration of deeper space.
Brine Processor Assembly: A Year of Successful Operation on the International Space Station
(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Boyce, Stephanie; Joyce, Connor; Pasadilla, Patrick; Tewes, Phillip; Wilson, Jonathan P.; Williamson, Jill; Toon, Katherine
Paragon Space Development Corporation developed a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) as a technical demonstration for the International Space Station (ISS), which has now been operating continuously for 18 months. BPA recovers water from urine brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) via forced convection of cabin air coupled with a patented membrane distillation process. An ionomer-microporous membrane-based bladder retains the liquid brine while water vapor pervaporates into the cabin, for collection as humidity condensate. This paper will discuss progress to-date on BPA performance. As of May 2023, 22 full operational runs have been completed, recovering nearly 400 L of water from urine brine. This represents a cost savings of over $40 Million from the mass of water that has not needed to be launched to or discarded on ISS, minus the cost of consumables (bladders and odor filters). On orbit telemetry has been used to further refine the thermal model for more accurate predictions of water recovery. Water recovery operations continue to align closely with ground test results, and the added exhaust filter has performed well in eliminating nuisance odor. Several dewatered bladders have been returned to Earth to assess the inner membrane pore wetting, confirm dewatered weight, as well as to assess dewatered brine concentration and composition at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). By increasing overall water recovery on ISS, BPA demonstrates a critical capability needed to close the water processing technology gap identified in NASA�s Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. The continued on-orbit operations of BPA contribute significant knowledge and understanding to the most efficient methods to recover water and inform best practices for future implementation of Paragon�s water reclamation technologies. This technology achieves an essential capability to enable human exploration of deep space.
Closing the Water Loop for Exploration: 2020-2021 Status of the Brine Processor Assembly
(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Kelsey, Laura; Boyce, Stephanie; Speight, Garland; Pasadilla, Patrick; Tewes, Philipp; Rabel, Emily; Meyer, Caitlin
Paragon Space Development Corporation has developed a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) for demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS). BPA will recover water from urine brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) and ground testing has demonstrated to achieve water recovery rates significantly greater than the 75-90% that is currently recovered by the UPA's Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) subsystem. BPA utilizes the forced convection of spacecraft cabin air coupled with a robust membrane distillation process to recover purified water from 22.5 liters of brine within a 26 day cycle. An ionomer-microporous membrane pair contains the brine while transferring purified water vapor to the cabin air. The water vapor is collected by the existing spacecraft condensing heat exchangers, which already recover metabolically produced water vapor as humidity condensate. This paper will discuss progress to-date on meeting critical technical and ISS integration milestones. Flight hardware was successfully delivered to NASA in Fall 2020 and the flight unit was launched to the ISS in February 2021. After installation on the ISS, on-orbit experiments will be conducted for a year to evaluate BPA performance in microgravity. By increasing overall water recovery on ISS to greater than 98%, BPA demonstrates a critical capability needed to close the brine processing technology gap identified in NASA's Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. This technology achieves an essential capability to enable human exploration of deeper space.
Closing the Water Loop for Exploration: 2022 Status of the Brine Processor Assembly
(51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2022) Boyce, Stephanie; Molina, Sunday; Harrington, Walter; Joyce, Connor; Pasadilla, Patrick; Tewes, Philipp; Williamson, Jill; Perry, Jay; Toon, Katherine; Meyer, Caitlin; Harper, Susana Tapia
Paragon Space Development Corporation developed a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) for demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS). BPA recovers water from urine brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) via a patented process and ground testing has demonstrated water recovery rates greater than 90% from the previously concentrated urine brine. BPA utilizes the forced convection of spacecraft cabin air coupled with a membrane distillation process to recover purified water from 22.5 liters of brine within a 26 day cycle. By increasing overall water recovery on ISS to greater than 98%, BPA demonstrates a critical capability needed to close the brine processing technology gap identified in NASA's Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. This paper discusses operational progress since launch to the ISS in February 2021. After installation, checkout, and activation on the ISS, BPA operations were successfully initiated in April 2021. Despite successful nominal operation, crew members expressed discomfort due to malodor from effluent BPA air. After the initial dewatering cycle was completed, it was determined that BPA would need to mitigate odor before on-orbit operations resumed. To address these concerns, an outlet filter system was developed, and an extensive characterization study was conducted to test the efficacy of the filter in reducing odor. This study included analysis of gas, odor, and condensate samples of filtered and unfiltered effluent air during a brine dewatering cycle with an identical BPA ground unit. The filter assembly demonstrated > 85% first pass reduction in odor without detrimental effects to BPA operations. As a result, a similar assembly was launched to the ISS, installed, and BPA operations were resumed in October 2021. This technology achieves an essential capability to enable human exploration of deeper space, and this experiment was an opportunity to identify the importance of human factors in life support spaceflight hardware.
Water Recovery from Human Metabolic Waste: System Design, Analysis, and Preliminary Results
(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Boyce, Stephanie; Huff, Benjamin; Jordan, Neil; Sheets, Kyle; Lofton, Zachary; Stokke, Kristy; Richardson, Tra-My Justine
Paragon Space Development Corporation is developing a system to recover water from human metabolic waste, i.e. feces, in support of NASA's Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. Through a NASA Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award, the Separation Technology of On-Orbit Liquid and Excrement (STOOLE) system uses heated air to drive recoverable water off of fecal deposits through gas permeable bags. Drying and stabilization of feces can reduce odor generation and prevent microbial proliferation if the water activity level is less than 0.6. In use on a spacecraft, water vapor would be returned to cabin air through a series of filtration and ionomer membrane distillation steps and collected by the existing condensing heat exchangers. The system is designed to recover >80% of the available water content, with built-in modularity to facilitate compatibility with existing waste collection hardware (i.e. the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS)). The cost for recovering fecal water in terms of mass, power, volume, and crew time equivalents must not outweigh the benefits of the mass savings obtained from water recovery over the balance of a mission, for example. This paper will discuss the progress to date on system design and analysis, materials selection, fecal simulant development, and system component testing.