Third Generation Advanced PPA Development
| dc.creator | Wheeler, Richard R. | |
| dc.creator | Hadley, Neal M. | |
| dc.creator | Wambolt, Spencer R. | |
| dc.creator | Abney, Morgan B. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-10-20T19:19:32Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-10-20T19:19:32Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014-07-13 | |
| dc.description | Tucson, Arizona | |
| dc.description.abstract | A Phase 3 advanced development project has culminated in the design and fabrication of a third generation Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (PPA), recovering up to 75% of the hydrogen currently lost as methane in Sabatier reactor effluent. By doing so, the PPA helps to minimize life support resupply costs for extended duration missions. The 3-year development effort, completed as part of NASA’s Atmosphere Revitalization Resource Recovery task, has resulted in a fully functional stand-alone 5-CM (crew member) capacity PPA prototype. This device, recently delivered to NASA-MSFC, embodies the current state of the art in microwave methane plasma pyrolysis. At 90% single pass conversion the third generation PPA shows a ten-fold increase in processing rate capability over the first generation PPA, improves microwave to chemical energy conversion efficiency by three-fold (to 22%), and maintains a low residual carbon production rate at 0.20% of carbon from converted methane. Additional third generation technology advancements include increased process autonomy, incorporation of a regenerative residual carbon trap and in-situ reactor cleaning using CO2 plasma oxidation. Future development work must focus on fully autonomous operation, increased carbon trap capacity, more complete regeneration and improved process energy efficiency. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-0-692-38220-2 | |
| dc.identifier.other | ICES-2014-034 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2346/59640 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.publisher | 44th International Conference on Environmental Systems | en_US |
| dc.title | Third Generation Advanced PPA Development | en_US |
| dc.type | Presentation | en_US |