A Study of the Kinetics of the CO Oxidation Catalyst in a Human Spaceflight Fire Cartridges as a Method to Understand and Predict Performance

Date

2023-07-16

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

Fire Cartridges (FC) are an integral part of fire response on ISS, Orion and Gateway. When a pair of FCs are integrated with an Emergency Mask, they can be used to provide safe breathing air on these vehicles in a post-fire environment. The FCs have two primary mechanisms for removing contaminants from the air, an activated carbon (AC) bed which adsorbs the majority of fire byproducts, and a catalyst bed consisting of gold nanoparticles supported on iron oxide which oxidized CO to CO2 under near ambient conditions. While the FC catalyst has proven its ability to convert CO under relevant conditions, this paper attempts to address the apparent inconsistent performance of the catalyst seen in testing. Numerous variables effect the performance of the catalyst, including but not limited to: reaction environment, reactant gas composition, inert gas composition, catalyst age, and catalyst lot. This paper discusses the importance of these variables and attempts a fundamental mechanistic explanation for the effects of each variable. The fundamental mechanisms are then used to establish the magnitude of expected performance variability, which were validated against real test data of flight quality FCs.

Description

Lawrence Barrett, Jacobs, USA
Adam Korona, Jacobs, USA
Emily Rabel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
Cristina Muko, KBR, USA
Steve Beck, KBR, USA
Edgar Hudson, KBR, USA
ICES509: Fire Safety in Spacecraft and Enclosed Habitats
The 52nd International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Calgary, Canada, on 16 July 2023 through 20 July 2023.

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Availability

Keywords

Safety, Fire, Respirator, Emergency Mask, Fire Cartridge, CO

Citation