Browsing by Author "Palmer, Travis"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

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.
Ground Demonstration and Evaluation of the Brine Processor Assembly as a Primary Urine Processor
(2024 International Conference on Environmnetal Systems, 2024-07-21) Joyce, Connor; Harrington, Walter; Pasadilla, Patrick; Palmer, Travis
The Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) was developed by Paragon Space Development Corporation as a technology demonstration for the International Space Station (ISS) and has now been in operation 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. An ionomer microporous membrane-based bladder retains the liquid brine while water vapor pervaporates into the cabin, for collection as humidity condensate. While the BPA continues to operate on ISS, Paragon has investigated the technology's potential as a standalone urine processing solution that could supersede the combined UPA+BPA for the next generation of space stations. The Primary Urine Processor (PUP) uses the same flight-proven distillation technology of the BPA, but with a continuous feed of urine and adjusted operating parameters. The presented work discusses the development, demonstration, and evaluation of a PUP Engineering Development Unit (EDU), based on the BPA flight design with several modifications to allow for continuous-feed urine processing. The PUP EDU processed 314 L of 95th percentile pretreated and augmented urine over a span of 4 months, recovering 99.5% of the available water in the pretreated urine and nearing 2-crew-equivalent urine processing with a single bladder assembly. These results both demonstrate PUP as a viable alternative to the ISS urine water recovery solution and provide insight into the technology for further optimization and scaling to design a full-scale flight prototype for direct comparison to the ISS systems on the bases of mass, volume, power, consumables, safety, and complexity. Implementation of this technology into new space stations will help pave the way for deep-space human exploration.