Browsing by Author "Simons, Richard"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Biocontamination Integrated Control of Wet Systems for Space Exploration (BIOWYSE)(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Guarnieri, Vincenzo; Detsis, Emmanuel; Locantore, Ilaria; Lobascio, Cesare; Boscheri, Giorgio; Marchitelli, Giovanni; Simons, Richard; Pagan, JenniferControl of microbiological contamination within spacecraft is of huge importance for long-duration manned space missions: such systems must guarantee crew well-being, health, and subsistence. The development of materials and methods to prevent, monitor, and mitigate environmental microbial contamination and its harmful effects are thus required. Considering the application of such systems to spacecraft, possible solutions must be safe, automated, lightweight, reliable, efficient, and require minimal energy, consumables, maintenance, etc. The “Biocontamination Integrated Control of Wet Systems for Space Exploration” (BIOWYSE) project focuses on the development and demonstration of a compact, integrated, and automated solution (hardware & software) to biocontamination control. The BIOWYSE system is designed to prevent, monitor, and mitigate the risk of microbiological contamination in water systems and humid surfaces onboard ISS and in future human space exploration missions. Automation and synergy of these processes lead to reduction in crew time, decreased energy requirements, procedure simplification, and additional safety measures. Prevention and real-time monitoring, together with an appropriate control system, can reduce the decontamination effort requirement and radically improve efficiency. The BIOWYSE system and its subsystems, modules, and operational modes are described in this paper.Item Low-maintenance, consumables-free disinfection by UV-C LEDs(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Simons, Richard; Pagan, Jennifer; Lawal, OliverUltraviolet (UV) disinfection has long been known as a chemical-free disinfection process capable of producing a 6-log reduction effect. Conventional UV sources, often called germicidal lamps, consist of a mercury amalgam encapsulated within a quartz sleeve and function by a plasma discharge mechanism; critically, the low durability and mercury content of these devices have limited their application within space environments. UV-C LEDs can produce the same disinfection effect as conventional germicidal lamps without many of the key drawbacks. Based on semiconductor technology, UV-C LEDs provide a high durability, DC-powered, long lifetime, mercury-free, small footprint, and low maintenance solution to the disinfection of air, water, and surfaces. As semiconductor devices UV-C LEDs are ideal for integration into reactive and controllable systems with real-time feedback, and capable of response times as short as 10 ns. UV-C LEDs have already been deployed on-orbit within the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), are included within the Advanced Closed Loop System (ACLS), and perform a key function of the BIOWYSE system breadboard. We present a background to the technology, the development of UV-C LEDs to their current capabilities, and how these devices may be integrated into next-generation disinfection systems.