Carbon Dioxide Removal by Ionic Liquid System (CDRILS): Continuous Operation and Full-Scale Brassboard Testing

The Carbon Dioxide Removal by Ionic Liquid System (CDRILS) is a light weight, low volume CO2 management technology for air revitalization in commercial and long duration human space missions. CDRILS is based on continuous recirculation of an ionic liquid sorbent between hollow fiber scrubber and stripper contactors. This paper reports further progress in advancing the Technology Readiness Level of the technology. A fully integrated lab-scale CDRILS has been built for an extended durability trial under continuous operation, and in-progress results are reported on its performance. A second CDRILS capable of operating full-scale hollow fiber contactors has also been built, and larger scale integrated scrubber-stripper studies are discussed. Preliminary work has probed the potential for the CDRILS to perform a trace contaminant control function in addition to CO2 and humidity management. Ongoing stability studies on the ionic liquid and membrane contactor components have now reached the 2-year milestone and continue to show little or no degradation of these materials. An updated estimate for system size, weight, and power and prototype design are also presented.