Engineering topics

Joel Andrew Olson

Publications and source records attributed to Joel Andrew Olson.

5 records

NASA NTRS2023

Plasma Activated Water: A Technology for Acid Generation and Space Crop Production

As humanity returns to the moon and onward to Mars, sustainable space travel becomes essential for cost and independence from Earth. Astronaut activities in low Earth orbit resupply consumable materials and can require alternative technologies if transportation of chemicals is deemed hazardous. Plasma technology and applications are able to generate commodities that assist in achieving Earth independence. Plasma interaction with water generates acid in-situ using on-board resources of electricity and breathable air without the need for large infrastructure. At Kennedy Space Center, researchers have shown that plasma is able to produce nitric acid, and therefore nitrates, in a plant-usable form in water. In this report, the team presents results on acid generation in g/kW-hr as well as provides results on plasma activated water for plant growth assistance. Plasma was generated utilizing DC, AC, and pulsed power supplies in order to determine optimizing parameters for generation of this useful commodity.

Plasma↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Plasma Activated Water Developments for Lunar and Martian Applications

Plasma activated water (PAW) would be of great use for space applications, due to the myriad of on-demand uses. Some of these applications were directly explored at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center including: Space crop production, Martian systems, and acid-base production. The presence of any nitrogen in the gas stream, including in a simulated Martian atmospheric composition, allows for nitrates to form in water during plasma treatment. These nitrates form nitric acid and drive down the pH while also being in a readily useable form by plants. Inedible biomass ash, which can be created using the same plasma system that treats the water, can be added into the acidic PAW to raise the pH. Measured pH values ranged from 2.7 to 11.5 using this process. Both the nitrates and the nutrients from the inedible biomass are beneficial for the plants, and the pH control allows for use with many different plant species. This methodology is also enabling for space-based hydroponic systems. At KSC, growth studies of Cherry Belle radishes showed comparable dry masses of edible biomass grown with Hoagland’s nutrient solution (a best-case scenario solution that is impractical for launch transportation) and the edible biomass grown with plasma water with the added ash. Both solutions showed substantial improvements over the deionized water that is most similar to what is available in Space systems via the water processor assembly. Additionally, the ability to produce both acidic PAW and basic PAW has benefits for sanitation as well. Preliminary studies showed a 5.8 log reduction of P. Aeruginosa when exposed to PAW mixtures, which shows the ability to remove this common biofilm.

Ryan Patrick Gott↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sustaining Human Presence with Plasma Technologies in the Final Frontier

Earth is the cradle of civilization and humankind is looking to the stars to colonize other planets, growing beyond the fragile, blue planet. In order to sustain human presence off-planet, compact, efficient, and versatile systems are demanded for success. Plasma research and technology development is enabling for human resiliency off-planet. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, plasma-based research efforts are underway for plasma-assisted closed loop agriculture, oxygen extraction from lunar regolith, and toxic gas abatement to name a few. We aim to present an overview of plasma work at Kennedy Space Center as efforts towards space-rated platforms are being developed. We report on the impacts for each topic as well as the economics of launching current state-of-the-art practices or technologies. Using low temperature plasmas for human-rated, space applications represents an exciting new endeavor.

Plasma↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) Gas Analysis Subsystem Development

The Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project is currently developing a subscale system to demonstrate the operation and performance of the carbothermal reduction process and quantify the production of molar equivalent oxygen (carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2)). Traditionally, gas chromatography (GC) systems are utilized to qualify gases due to their ability to separate the volatile compounds within the gas mixture, followed by quantification of the isolated component of interest. Despite these capabilities, GCs require consumables for their operational mobile phase and consequently are not often considered a flight-forward option. An alternative analytical technique known as mass spectrometry measures the presentence of gas phase molecules based on their mass-to-charge ratio. Residual gas analyzers (RGAs) which utilize mass spectrometry are not traditionally used to quantify analytes, but proper design and calibrations can result in a flight-forward analytical instrument capable of direct quantification of volatile gases of interest. Kennedy Space Center's role for the project is to design a gas analyzer system to detect and quantify the CO and CO2 gas produced during the carbothermal reaction utilizing a commercial version of the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument. MSolo is a modified commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer which consists of quadrupole mass filter and space rated electronics. MSolo is currently a TRL 6 technology and manifested on the PRIME-1 and VIPER missions. This paper describes leveraging MSolo based instrumentation to develop a gas analysis system for the work outlined in the 2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) paper number 313. The design and testing of the brassboard phase of the project will be described along with the current work underway which will cover the design and preliminary test results of the prototype phase.

Ryan Patrick Gott↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Plasma Processing of Water and Inedible Biomass Ash Leaching

Researchers at Kennedy Space Center have developed a technology that generates plasma activated water in pH ranges that allow for the addition of nitrates and other nutrients to the water while maintaining a healthy pH for plants. A plasma torch is used to treat inedible biomass, generating ash containing nutrients useful for plant growth. The same plasma torch is also used to treat water, which results in the formation of nitric acid that lowers the pH of the water. Adding the plasma generated ash to the plasma treated water can balance the pH of the water to make it suitable for plant growth while simultaneously adding nutrients recycled from the inedible biomass to further enhance plant development. Plasma treatment of water to high and low pH extremes can also be used for sanitation purposes, causing pH shock to undesired organisms. The uniqueness of this process is the adjustability of the pH with one system. The same plasma system can be used to treat both the water and the biomass. Additionally, the technology can be used as an on-demand, point-of-use method for producing nitric acid.

Space Crop Production↗