Poisoning Evaluation of On-Orbit Sabatier Assembly
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The Sabatier Assembly (SA) P/N SV1015510-1 was designed by Collins Aerospace to partially close the life support loop on ISS by reacting two waste gases (carbon dioxide and hydrogen) to form water (and waste methane). Waste CO2 is recovered from cabin air by the Carbon Dioxide Recovery Assembly (CDRA) and waste H2 comes from the Oxygen Generation System (OGS). By recycling these waste gases, this reduces the need to launch excess water, which is costly. The SA was successfully launched in 2010, and was in operation from June 2011 through October 2017. During that period of time, Sabatier produced 1081 liters of water. In 2018, the Sabatier on-orbit unit began to show significant signs of degradation in the reactor. To keep the system operating, this required increasingly involved procedures to restart the reaction after a shutdown. Eventually, the decision was made to shut down the Sabatier Assembly and to return it to Collins Aerospace for TT&E (Test, Teardown and Evaluation) with the goal of providing an upgraded system to support Exploration demonstration hardware on ISS. This paper reports the poisoning evaluation results of the catalyst reactor.
Description
Ping Yu Collins Aerospace, US
Julius Woods Collins Aerospace, US
Daniel Goberman, United Technologies Research Center, US
Lynda Galvin, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), US
John Garr National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), US
Bettylynn Ulrich National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 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.