Development of a Hybrid Integrated Water Recovery Assembly for Exploration Habitats

Date

2018-07-08

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

48th International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

Paragon Space Development Corporation® (Paragon) and our partner Research Institution Texas Tech University (TTU) are developing a game changing spacecraft habitat wastewater recycling system that integrates 1) the TTU Membrane Aerated Biological Reactor (MABR), 2) Nafion Membrane Water Purification (NWP) distillation technology, and 3) Gas-phase Trace Contaminant Removal (GTCR) to realize a low-mass, low-volume, closed-loop, sustainable, and ultra-reliable water recycling and purification system. It is the coupling of these three well-developed and understood processes that is novel and offers a significant advantage over state of the art (SOA) spacecraft water processing systems. When fully developed, the Integrated water Recovery Assembly (IRA) will reduce the need for hazardous chemical pretreat and potentially eliminate the need for aqueous-phase treatment now used to reach potable standards. Further, IRA will reduce waste generation and increase material recycling by converting carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen species into useful products such as H2O, N2, and CO2 (which can be further processed to recover O2). IRA will be less complex, require far fewer consumables, be more robust, and more sustainable than SOA systems. This paper summarizes the results of work completed during the initial development phase where a subscale demonstrator was manufactured and tested. A preview of the ongoing development and testing of a full-scale demonstrator will also be provided.

Description

Barry Finger, Paragon Space Development Corporation
Andrew Jackson, Texas Tech University
Patrick Pasadilla, Paragon Space Development Corporation
Brittany Zimmerman, Paragon Space Development Corporation
ICES305: Environmental and Thermal Control of Commercial and Exploration Spacecraft
The 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA on 08 July 2018 through 12 July 2018.

Keywords

ECLSS, wastewater, life support, water recovery, environmental control, distillation, bioreactor, hybrid water processing, potable water

Citation