Commissioning and Operational Data of Advanced Magnetic-Bearing-Supported Carbon Dioxide Blower for Space Applications

NASA designed and developed a next-generation CO2 removal system, the Four Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, for use aboard the International Space Station. A key module of FBCO2 is the magnetic-bearing-supported blower, developed by Calnetix Technologies, which is used to move air through the sorbent beds. The blower was installed onboard the ISS in February 2023 as a retrofit into the existing FBCO2 system. The active magnetic bearings allow for high reliability, making them a choice technology for space applications. The blower is driven by an integrated permanent magnet motor and a variable speed drive. While previous papers have focused on the design of the blower and the ground test data collected for the blower, this paper focuses on the commissioning of the blower and live data captured from the blower post-commissioning. Details of the commissioning are discussed, including key features added to the magnetic bearing controller software which enabled the remote commissioning of the first five-axis AMB-supported machine to operate in space.