Brine Processor Assembly: A Year of Successful Operation on the International Space Station

Paragon Space Development Corporation developed a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) as a technical demonstration for the International Space Station (ISS), which has now been operating continuously for 18 months. BPA recovers water from urine brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) via forced convection of cabin air coupled with a patented membrane distillation process. An ionomer-microporous membrane-based bladder retains the liquid brine while water vapor pervaporates into the cabin, for collection as humidity condensate. This paper will discuss progress to-date on BPA performance. As of May 2023, 22 full operational runs have been completed, recovering nearly 400 L of water from urine brine. This represents a cost savings of over $40 Million from the mass of water that has not needed to be launched to or discarded on ISS, minus the cost of consumables (bladders and odor filters). On orbit telemetry has been used to further refine the thermal model for more accurate predictions of water recovery. Water recovery operations continue to align closely with ground test results, and the added exhaust filter has performed well in eliminating nuisance odor. Several dewatered bladders have been returned to Earth to assess the inner membrane pore wetting, confirm dewatered weight, as well as to assess dewatered brine concentration and composition at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). By increasing overall water recovery on ISS, BPA demonstrates a critical capability needed to close the water processing technology gap identified in NASA�s Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. The continued on-orbit operations of BPA contribute significant knowledge and understanding to the most efficient methods to recover water and inform best practices for future implementation of Paragon�s water reclamation technologies. This technology achieves an essential capability to enable human exploration of deep space.