4-Bed CO2 Scrubber – From Design to Build

Date

2020-07-31

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

Four-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.

Description

Gregory Cmarik, Jacobs Space Exploration Group, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Environmental Control & Life Support (ECLS) Systems Development Branch (ES62), US
James Knox, Dynetics Technical Solutions, US
Warren Peters, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Environmental Control & Life Support (ECLS) Systems Development Branch (ES62), US
ICES302: Physio-chemical Life Support- Air Revitalization Systems -Technology and Process Development
The proceedings for the 2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems were published from July 31, 2020. The technical papers were not presented in person due to the inability to hold the event as scheduled in Lisbon, Portugal because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Keywords

Carbon dioxide (CO2), Carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA), 4-Bed Carbon dioxide CO2 (4BCO2) scrubber, Four bed, Environmental Control & Life Support (ECLS), Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLS)

Citation