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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 271 records · Page 15

Assessment of Ethanol Trends on the ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) provides a working environment for six crewmembers through atmosphere revitalization and water recovery systems. In the last year, elevated ethanol levels have presented a unique challenge for the ISS ECLSS. Ethanol is monitored on the ISS by the Air Quality Monitor (AQM). The source of this increase is currently unknown. This paper documents the credible sources for the increased ethanol concentration, the monitoring provided by the AQM, and the impact on the atmosphere revitalization and water recovery systems.

Perry, Jay↗

Hydrodynamics of Two-Phase Flows through Porous Media in Microgravity: Packed Bed Reactor Experiment onboard of the International Space Station

The objective of the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment was to develop a fundamental understanding of the hydrodynamics of two-phase flow with no phase transition through porous media in microgravity. This work describes two experimental campaigns flown on the International Space Station (ISS) that were designed to achieve the objective. This work presents the results on flow patterns observed, two-phase flow pressure drop in porous media, and the impact of capillary effects on pressure drop at various gas and liquid flow rates. This work is the first to present predictive correlations of the two-phase friction factor for the different regimes identified based on the superficial liquid and gas velocity in microgravity, the first to hypothesize the different regimes based on the change in slope of the pressure gradient versus flow rate plots, the first to address the effects of the capillarity on the pressure gradient and the first to measure column holdup and assess the effective porosity based on the packing and the trapped gas bubbles. Experimental data on pressure drop in gas (N2) – liquid (water) flow show the presence of four different flow regimes in microgravity. Dispersed bubble flow (DB) and pulse (P) flow regimes are detected at high liquid flow rates, whereas at low liquid flow rates “large bubble” or elongated bubble (LB) and “gas channeling” (GC) regimes are observed. For these different flow regimes, different two-phase flow friction factor and pressure gradient correlations are presented for the first time as a function of the gas and liquid modified Reynolds numbers and Suratman number. Within the viscous-capillary (V-C) regime, it is found that the capillary contribution is the dominant force that contributes to the pressure drop for the wetting case (glass). However, for the non-wetting packing (Teflon), the viscous contribution dominates. It was found that the gas hold-up and pressure drop are functions of bed history at low liquid and gas flow rates with the magnitude of the hysteresis decreasing with increasing flow rates. PBRE-2 results show that the capillary force is a strong function of the superficial liquid velocity but is a much weaker function of the superficial gas velocity and varies inversely with the particle diameter. Within the Viscous-Capillary (V-C) regime, over 90% of the pressure gradient is attributed to the capillary contribution in the gas continuous regime. However, in the large bubble regime, the viscous and capillary contributions were comparable. After the completion of PBRE-2 with glass spherical beads, another bed packed with alumina was installed. Pressure gradient data for the alumina packed bed (PBRE-Water Recovery) were transferred to the PI and were not analyzed by the authors of this work. The Packed Bed Reactor Experiment concluded its on-orbit operation after two successful campaigns of testing in 2017 and in 2021. The flight hardware was brought back from orbit and is being reconditioned for a series of future experiments referred to as PBRE-WRS in support of water recovery (WRS). The WRS series consists of testing different two-phase fluid system components and packed beds to assess their pressure gradient characteristics, which will be used for designing packed bed reactors for various applications relevant to life support. Although there is so much relevance of the experimental results obtained from the two PBRE campaign in microgravity to life support, these findings also apply to other applications that involve two phase flow in porous medium such as fuel cells, transport of nutrient to plants in space and other chemical and materials processing that involve two phase flows. These systems operate differently in microgravity because, due to the lack of buoyancy, the density difference between the phases becomes irrelevant and no longer leads to phase separation.

Packed Bed↗

Separation of volatile organic contaminants from water using a direct-contact dehumidifier: An experimental study and modeling

A packed-bed, direct-contact dehumidifier (PB-DCD) has been developed to selectively condense water from a gaseous mixture of organic contaminants. In this process, hot air is humidified by mixing with wastewater vapor in a static mixer and is dehumidified by subcooled fresh water passing through the PB-DCD in a counter-current configuration. The goal of this study is to understand the relationship between various operating parameters and how they affect separation of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) from the gaseous mixture with the purpose of expanding the investigation to other contaminants in the future. The process has been successfully used to separate IPA from wastewater. Different parameters including the concentration of IPA in water, feed temperature, air-to-vapor ratio, and cooling-water-to-vapor mass ratio, as well as residence time were examined to determine their influence on contaminant separation and clean water recovery rate. The Buckingham Pi theorem was applied to reduce the number of studying variables by generating non-dimensional groups. Experiments were performed to determine the relationship between the non-dimensional parameters and model mass transfer in the system. Mass transfer coefficients for multicomponent gaseous mixture condensation in a packed-bed direct contact condenser column are calculated and a modified correlation of mass transfer is developed. The parameters of the mass transfer model are obtained from operating conditions of the PB-DCD, stream conditions and thermodynamic properties. A modified Sherwood correlation is developed to predict IPA separation from a gaseous mixture consisting of air, water, and IPA. The modified Sherwood correlation is applied to successfully predict the Sherwood number with a mean absolute error equal to 6.6 %. According to the experimental results, the maximum IPA separation achieved was 76.3 %, which corresponds to a water recovery rate of 58.7 %.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Multiobjective optimization of hybrid regenerative life support technologies. Topic D: Technology Assessment

We developed simple mathematical models for many of the technologies constituting the water reclamation system in a space station. These models were employed for subsystem optimization and for the evaluation of the performance of individual water reclamation technologies, by quantifying their operational 'cost' as a linear function of weight, volume, and power consumption. Then we performed preliminary investigations on the performance improvements attainable by simple hybrid systems involving parallel combinations of technologies. We are developing a software tool for synthesizing a hybrid water recovery system (WRS) for long term space missions. As conceptual framework, we are employing the state space approach. Given a number of available technologies and the mission specifications, the state space approach would help design flowsheets featuring optimal process configurations, including those that feature stream connections in parallel, series, or recycles. We visualize this software tool to function as follows: given the mission duration, the crew size, water quality specifications, and the cost coefficients, the software will synthesize a water recovery system for the space station. It should require minimal user intervention. The following tasks need to be solved for achieving this goal: (1) formulate a problem statement that will be used to evaluate the advantages of a hybrid WRS over a single technology WBS; (2) model several WRS technologies that can be employed in the space station; (3) propose a recycling network design methodology (since the WRS synthesis task is a recycling network design problem, it is essential to employ a systematic method in synthesizing this network); (4) develop a software implementation for this design methodology, design a hybrid system using this software, and compare the resulting WRS with a base-case WRS; and (5) create a user-friendly interface for this software tool.

Manousiouthakis, Vasilios↗

International Space Station Environmental Control and Life Support System Acceptance Testing for Node 1 Temperature and Humidity Control Subsystem

The International Space Station (ISS) Node 1 Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) System is comprised of five subsystems: Atmosphere Control and Storage (ACS), Atmosphere Revitalization (AR), Fire Detection and Suppression (FDS), Temperature and Humidity Control (THC), and Water Recovery and Management (WRM). This paper will provide a summary of the Node 1 ECLS THC subsystem design and a detailed discussion of the ISS ECLS Acceptance Testing methodology utilized for this subsystem.The International Space Station (ISS) Node 1 Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) System is comprised of five subsystems: Atmosphere Control and Storage (ACS), Atmosphere Revitalization (AR), Fire Detection and Suppression (FDS), Temperature and Humidity Control (THC), and Water Recovery and Management (WRM). This paper will provide a summary of the Node 1 ECLS THC subsystem design and a detailed discussion of the ISS ECLS Acceptance Testing methodology utilized for this subsystem.

Williams, David E.↗

Laboratory and pilot-scale studies of membrane distillation for desalination of produced water from Permian Basin

Substantial quantities of produced water generated during the extraction of oil and gas from unconventional reservoirs present significant environmental concern and increase the operating cost for this industry. Membrane Distillation (MD) can serve as a potential solution for beneficial reuse of produced water by generating high-quality permeate and reducing the volume of produced water requiring disposal. This study investigated treatment of produced water from Permian Basin in both laboratory and pilot-scale studies. Laboratory tests revealed the potential to successfully recover 50% of produced water although some increase in permeate conductivity was observed due to the passage of ammonia from the feed side. Initial pilot-scale test with filtration of raw produced water as the only pre-treatment step led to precipitation of SrSO 4 , NaCl, and Fe in the system once the solubility limits for these salts were exceeded. However, chemical pretreatment that included pH adjustment, aeration, and barite precipitation, allowed successful steady-state operation of the AGMD pilot system for 5 days where the produced water was concentrated from 127 g/L to 255 g/L (~50% water recovery) while recovering high quality permeate. Overall, greater than 99.7 % salt rejection was achieved with the average permeate flux of 1.86 LMH. Finally, mass balance analysis suggested potential Ba and Ca precipitation in the system but there was no impact on AGMD performance and permeate quality during 5 days of continuous operation in the field.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Quantification of energy and cost reduction from decreasing dissolved oxygen levels in full‐scale water resource recovery facilities

Abstract Aeration systems often lack the efficiency to maintain a desired residual dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the tank in part because little consideration is given to the dynamic daily and seasonal loading conditions. Although advanced aeration controllers exist, the majority of plants have DO set points typically based on common practice and literature values rather than site‐specific conditions, which can result in DO set points higher than those necessary to meet treatment objectives. DO set point reduction strategies have primarily been proposed through either static or dynamic simulations. In this study, the substantial improvements associated with DO set point reduction are demonstrated at full scale. A yearlong characterization of full‐scale aeration dynamics captured the effect of diurnal and seasonal fluctuations on oxygen transfer and energy demand and so facilitated the estimation of the potential savings of DO reduction strategies. Full‐scale validation provided direct evidence of DO reduction strategies inducing an overall enhancement of oxygen transfer efficiency along the different bioreactors, while confirming that energy savings as high as 20% were feasible. This study quantifies the influence of oxygen transfer efficiency on operating choices and site‐specific conditions (control strategy, loading conditions, and influent flow variability). Practitioner points We quantified the energy reduction and cost savings associated with a DO reduction in an aeration tank. For each 0.2 mg/L of DO decreased, the average power demand reduction per unit water treated exceeded 17%. Field measurements of dynamic alpha values eliminate the uncertainty in estimating aeration energy and cost savings from DO variations.

Pasini, Federico↗

Advanced Technologies to Improve Closure of Life Support Systems

As NASA looks beyond the International Space Station toward long-duration, deep space missions away from Earth, the current practice of supplying consumables and spares will not be practical nor affordable. New approaches are sought for life support and habitation systems that will reduce dependency on Earth and increase mission sustainability. To reduce launch mass, further closure of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) beyond the current capability of the ISS will be required. Areas of particular interest include achieving higher degrees of recycling within Atmosphere Revitalization, Water Recovery and Waste Management Systems. NASA is currently investigating advanced carbon dioxide reduction processes that surpass the level of oxygen recovery available from the Sabatier Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) on the ISS. Candidate technologies will potentially improve the recovery of oxygen from about 50% (for the CRA) to as much as 100% for technologies who's end product is solid carbon. Improving the efficiency of water recycling and recovery can be achieved by the addition of advanced technologies to recover water from brines and solid wastes. Bioregenerative technologies may be utilized for water reclaimation and also for the production of food. Use of higher plants will simultaneously benefit atmosphere revitalization and water recovery through photosynthesis and transpiration. The level at which bioregenerative technologies are utilized will depend on their comparative requirements for spacecraft resources including mass, power, volume, heat rejection, crew time and reliability. Planetary protection requirements will need to be considered for missions to other solar system bodies.

Barta, Daniel J.↗

Water resource recovery modelling 2021 (WRRmod2021 conference)

Our society is transitioning fast into the digital age, spurred by development of cheap and new sensing technology, breakthroughs in computing, and development of efficient algorithms for optimization. This transition is also visible in the field of wastewater treatment and is driving new model developments, especially by exploiting the large data sets available with many utilities. Not surprisingly, WRRmod2021 had featured a strong session on ‘data-driven models and digitalization’ focused on this hot topic. At the same time, engineering practice calls for more robust models for performance evaluation and optimization of both conventional facilities and innovative processes. As a result, the WRRmod2021 program also exhibited sessions on modelling of new process units (e.g., aerobic granular sludge), modelling of the nitrogen cycle, and integrated/plant-wide modelling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Novel Modular Treatment System for Distributed Energy Recovery and Water Reclamation from Industrial Wastewaters

The overarching goal of this work was to accelerate the commercialization of a distributed, modular, agile treatment technology - the Modular Encapsulated Two-stage Anaerobic Biological (METAB) system - by advancing it to pilot-scale. Specifically, the METAB system was developed to treat high strength wastewater (5,000-35,000 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD)), produce hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4), and achieve these outcomes without a membrane for retention of microorganisms.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Four-man rated dual catalyst system for the recovery of water from urine

The catalytic system was integrated with a 4-man rated urine wick evaporator. During operation, urine vapor produced by the wick-evaporator was treated in the catalytic system to remove ammonia and volatile hydrocarbons, and water was recovered by condensation in a water cooled condenser. The system operated completely automatically and required no manual adjustments, except periodic supply of urine and removal of the recovered water. Although the system was designed for treating 0.325 kg urine per hour, this rate could be achieved only with a fresh wick, then gradually decreased as the wick became saturated with urine solids. The average urine treatment rates achieved during each of the three endurance tests were 0.137, 0.217, and 0.235 kg/hr. The quality of the recovered water meets drinking water standards, with the exception of a generally low pH.

Budininkas, P.↗

Selection of a Brine Processor Technology for NASA Manned Missions

The current ISS Water Recovery System (WRS) reclaims water from crew urine, humidity condensate, and Sabatier product water. Urine is initially processed by the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) which recovers 75% of the urine as distillate. The remainder of the water is present in the waste brine which is currently disposed of as trash on ISS. For future missions this additional water must be reclaimed due to the significant resupply penalty for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). NASA has pursued various technology development programs for a brine processor in the past several years. This effort has culminated in a technology down-select to identify the optimum technology for future manned missions. The technology selection is based on various criteria, including mass, power, reliability, maintainability, and safety. Beginning in 2016 the selected technology will be transitioned to a flight hardware program for demonstration on ISS. This paper summarizes the technology selection process, the competing technologies, and the rationale for the technology selected for future manned missions.

Carter, Donald L.↗

Mineral Recovery Enhanced Desalination (MRED) process: An innovative technology for desalinating hard brackish water

Desalination of water containing high concentrations of calcium, dissolved carbon dioxide, sulfate, silica and other sparingly soluble salts is difficult because of the scaling potential. An innovative pre-treatment scheme was investigated at bench scale that selectively removes these constituents and produces a soft water to enable desalination with high feed water recovery. The process first removes dissolved carbon dioxide by air stripping at low pH. Magnesium is removed by precipitation at high pH. Calcium is removed by ion exchange (IX), and sulfate is removed by nanofiltration (NF). Cation regenerant from IX, containing calcium, and concentrate from NF, containing sulfate, is combined to precipitate gypsum. Concentrate from the desalination process consisting of a concentrated NaCl solution is used to regenerate the IX resins. The selective precipitation, IX, and NF processes were tested in laboratory experiments and produced magnesium hydroxide and gypsum at greater than 90% and 95% purity respectively. A process model was developed to calculate process performance, mass and liquid flow rates. Finally, the MRED process offers the following benefits: 1) greater recovery of brackish feedwater by a desalination process, 2) recovery of marketable commodities and 3) reduction in the volume and mass of waste products from the treatment process.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Applied Nanotechnology for Human Space Exploration

A viewgraph presentation describing nanotechnology for human space exploration is shown. The topics include: 1) NASA's Strategic Vision; 2) Exploration Architecture; 3) Future Exploration Mission Requirements Cannot be met with Conventional Materials; 4) Nanomaterials: Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes; 5) Applied Nanotechnology at JSC: Fundamentals to Applications; 6) Technology Readiness Levels (TRL); 7) Growth, Modeling, Diagnostics and Production; 8) Characterization: Purity, Dispersion and Consistency; 9) Processing; 10) Nanoelectronics: Enabling Technologies; 11) Applications for Human Space Exploration; 12) Exploration Life Support: Atmosphere Revitalization System; 13) Advanced and Exploration Life Support: Regenerable CO2 Removal; 14) Exploration Life Support: Water Recovery; 15) Advanced Life Support: Water Disinfection/Recovery; 16) Power and Energy: Supercapacitors and Fuel Cells; 17) Nanomaterials for EMI Shielding; 18) Active Radiation Dosimeter; 19) Advanced Thermal Protection System (TPS) Repair; 20) Thermal Radiation and Impact Protection (TRIPS); 21) Nanotechnology: Astronaut Health Management; 22) JSC Nanomaterials Group Collaborations.

Yowell, Leonard L.↗

International Space Station USOS Potable Water Dispenser On-Orbit Functionality Versus Design

The International Space Station (ISS) currently provides potable water dispensing for rehydrating crewmember food and drinking packages. There is one system located in the United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) and one system in the Russian Segment. Shuttle mission STS-126 delivered the USOS Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) to ISS on ULF2; subsequent activation occurred on November 2008. The PWD is capable of supporting an ISS crew of six, but nominally supplies only half this crew size. The PWD design provides incremental quantities of hot and ambient temperature potable water to US food and beverage packages. PWD receives iodinated water from the US Water Recovery System (WRS) Fuel Cell Water Bus, which feeds from the Water Processing Assembly (WPA). The PWD removes the biocidal iodine to make the water potable prior to dispensing. A heater assembly contained within the unit supplies up to 2.0 L of hot water (65 to 93 ?C) every 30 min. During a single meal, this quantity of water supports three to four crewmembers? food rehydration and beverages. The unit design has a functional life expectancy of 10 years, with replacement of limited life items, such as filters. To date, the PWD on-orbit performance is acceptable. Since activation of the PWD, there were several differences between on-orbit functionality and expected performance of hardware design. The comparison of on-orbit functionality to performance of hardware design is discussed for the following key areas: 1) microbial contamination, 2) no-dispense and water leakage scenarios, and 3) under-dispense scenarios.

Toon, Katherine P.↗