Characterization of carbon particulates in the exit flow of a Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (PPA) reactor

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2015-07-12

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45th International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

The ISS presently recovers oxygen from crew respiration via a Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) that utilizes the Sabatier chemical process to reduce captured carbon dioxide to methane (CH4) and water. In order to recover more of the hydrogen from the methane and increase oxygen recovery, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is investigating a technology, plasma pyrolysis, to convert the methane to acetylene. The Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (or PPA), achieves 90% or greater conversion efficiency, but a small amount of solid carbon particulates are generated as a side product and must be filtered before the acetylene is removed and the hydrogen-rich gas stream is recycled back to the CRA. In this work, we present the experimental results of an initial characterization of the carbon particulates in the PPA exit gas stream. We also present several potential options to remove these carbon particulates via carbon traps and filters to minimize resupply mass and required downtime for regeneration.

Description

Bellevue, Washington
Robert D. Green, NASA Glenn Research Center, USA
Marit E. Meyer, NASA Glenn Research Center, USA
Juan H. Agui, NASA Glenn Research Center, USA
Gordon M. Berger, Universities Space Research Association, USA
R. Vijayakumar, Aerfil Corp., USA
Morgan B. Abney, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, USA
Zachary Greenwood, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, USA
The 45th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Bellevue, Washington, USA on 12 July 2015 through 16 July 2015.

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