Browsing by Author "Peters, Warren"
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Item 4-Bed CO2 Scrubber – From Design to Build(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Cmarik, Gregory; Knox, James; Peters, WarrenFour-bed technology is an International Space Station (ISS) mainstay for metabolic Carbon Dioxide (CO2) removal and crew life support. The current generation is known as the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) and has a long history of unplanned maintenance as well as obsolete core components. The 4-bed CO2 Scrubber was commissioned to operate with no unplanned maintenance for 3 years while removing 4 crew-equivalents of CO2 at a target inlet concentration of 2 torr CO2. This work goes into detail of the various design aspects which have been undertaken to ensure a successful project design and successful build leading to an upcoming flight. This work will discuss the compromises caught both early and late in the design cycle and the adaptations in response. Finally, the expected performance of the system once launched will be discussed based on summaries of data from the testbed.Item 4BCO2 EDU Performance(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Peters, Warren; Cmarik, Gregory; Knox, JamesNASA is reducing the power, volume and mass requirements on future CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) removal systems for exploration missions. To meet this goal, a 4BCO2 flight experiment based on 4BMS (Four Bed Molecular Sieve) technology is under construction and will fly to ISS (International Space Station) for on-orbit performance and reliability testing. The 4BCO2 flight experiment was based on the 4BMS-X EDU (Engineering Development Unit) design, which has been modified to incorporate elements of the flight system. This paper will present the operational performance of the 4BCO2 EDU.Item 4BMS-X Design and Test Activation(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Peters, Warren; Knox, JamesIn support of the AES (Advanced Exploration Systems) goals to reduce power, volume and mass requirements on future CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) removal systems for exploration missions, a 4BMS (Four Bed Molecular Sieve) test bed was fabricated and activated at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The 4BMS-X (Four Bed Molecular Sieve-Exploration) test bed used components similar in size, spacing, and function to those on the flight ISS flight CDRA system, but were assembled in an open framework. This open framework allows for quick integration of changes to components, beds and material systems. The test stand is highly instrumented to provide data necessary to anchor predictive modeling efforts occurring in parallel to testing. System architecture and test data collected on the initial configurations will be presented.Item CDRA-4EU Testing in Support of ISS(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2016) Peters, Warren; Stanley, Christine; Knox, JamesNASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) recently conducted tests on two desiccant beds of the four-bed molecular sieve carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA) returned from the International Space Station (ISS). MSFC had previously characterized the relationship between CDRA-4EU inlet conditions and the dewpoint at the desiccant bed exit and between the compressor and accumulator that make up the Carbon Dioxide Management Assembly (CDMA). MSFC installed the flight desiccant beds into the existing Exploration Test Chamber (E-chamber) using a suite of instrumentation not available on orbit to investigate the orbital performance of the desiccant beds. Test objectives, facility design and test results are presented.Item CDRA-4EU Testing to Assess Increased Number of ISS Crew(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Peters, Warren; Knox, JamesThe ISS (International Space Station) program is investigating methods to increase CO2 (carbon dioxide) removal on ISS in order to support an increased number of astronauts at a future date. The CDRA-4EU (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly – Engineering Unit) system at NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) was tested at maximum fan settings to evaluate CO2 removal rate and power consumption at those settings.Item Development of Carbon Dioxide Removal Systems for Advanced Exploration Systems 2015-2016(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Knox, James; Coker, Robert; Howard, David; Peters, Warren; Watson, David; Cmarik, Gregory; Miller, LeeA long-term goal for NASA is to enable crewed missions to Mars: first to the vicinity of Mars, and then to the Mars surface. These missions present new challenges for all aspects of spacecraft design in comparison with the International Space Station, as resupply is unavailable in the transit phase, and early return is not possible. Additionally, mass, power, and volume must be minimized for all phases to reduce propulsion needs. Mass reduction is particularly crucial for Mars surface landing and liftoff due to the challenges inherent in these operations for even much smaller payloads. In this paper we describe current and planned developments in the area of carbon dioxide removal to support future crewed Mars missions. Activities are also described that apply to both the resolution of anomalies observed in the ISS CDRA and the design of life support systems for future missions.Item Four Bed Molecular Sieve – Exploration (4BMS-X) Virtual Heater Design and Optimization(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Schunk, Richard; Peters, Warren; Thomas, JohnA 4BMS-X (Four Bed Molecular Sieve – Exploration) design and heater optimization study for CO2 sorbent beds in proposed exploration system architectures is presented. The primary objectives of the study are to reduce heater power and thermal gradients within the CO2 sorbent beds while minimizing channeling effects. Some of the notable changes from the ISS (International Space Station) CDRA (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) to the proposed exploration system architecture include cylindrical beds, alternate sorbents and an improved heater core. Results from both 2D and 3D sorbent bed thermal models with integrated heaters are presented. The 2D sorbent bed models are used to optimize heater power and fin geometry while the 3D models address end effects in the beds for more realistic thermal gradient and heater power predictions.Item Optimization of the 4-Bed CO2 Scrubber Performance Based on Ground Tests(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Knox, James; Peters, Warren; Cmarik, GregoryTesting of ground hardware closely matching the flight design for the 4-Bed CO2 Scrubber (4BCO2) has provided a wealth of information about the complex and highly coupled batch process. The 4BCO2 process is a Thermal and Vacuum Swing Adsorption (TVSA) cycle with recirculating flows. The ability to measure CO2 concentration at intermediate points in this architecture is new to this ground test system and has revealed a better understanding of system performance and its dependence on system design, operational parameters, and boundary conditions. This paper will discuss a statistical analysis performed to identify significant correlations between performance factors and operational parameters. Using these new insights on the highly coupled system physics, means for improvements to system performance are proposed.