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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

Evaluation of Mars CO2 Capture and Gas Separation Technologies

Recent national policy statements have established that the ultimate destination of NASA's human exploration program is Mars. In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is a key technology required to ,enable such missions and it is appropriate to review progress in this area and continue to advance the systems required to produce rocket propellant, oxygen, and other consumables on Mars using the carbon dioxide atmosphere and other potential resources. The Mars Atmospheric Capture and Gas separation project is selecting, developing, and demonstrating techniques to capture and purify Martian atmospheric gases for their utilization for the production of hydrocarbons, oxygen, and water in ISRU systems. Trace gases will be required to be separated from Martian atmospheric gases to provide pure CO2 to processing elements. In addition, other Martian gases, such as nitrogen and argon, occur in concentrations high enough to be useful as buffer gas and should be captured as well. To achieve these goals, highly efficient gas separation processes will be required. These gas separation techniques are also required across various areas within the ISRU project to support various consumable production processes. The development of innovative gas separation techniques will evaluate the current state-of-the-art for the gas separation required, with the objective to demonstrate and develop light-weight, low-power methods for gas separation. Gas separation requirements include, but are not limited to the selective separation of: (1) methane and water from unreacted carbon oxides (C02-CO) and hydrogen typical of a Sabatier-type process, (2) carbon oxides and water from unreacted hydrogen from a Reverse Water-Gas Shift process, (3)/carbon oxides from oxygen from a trash/waste processing reaction, and (4) helium from hydrogen or oxygen from a propellant scavenging process. Potential technologies for the separations include' freezers, selective membranes, selective solvents, polymeric sorbents, zeolites, and new technologies. This paper summarizes the results of an extensive literature review of candidate technologies for the capture and separation of CO2 and other relevant gases. This information will be used to prioritize the technologies to be developed further during this and other ISRU projects.

Muscatello, Anthony C.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Solid State Carbon Monoxide Sensor

A means for detecting carbon monoxide which utilizes an un-heated catalytic material to oxidize carbon monoxide at ambient temperatures. Because this reaction is exothermic, a thermistor in contact with the catalytic material is used as a sensing element to detect the heat evolved as carbon monoxide is oxidized to carbon dioxide at the catalyst surface, without any heaters or external heating elements for the ambient air or catalytic element material. Upon comparison to a reference thermistor, relative increases in the temperature of the sensing thermistor correspond positively with an increased concentration of carbon monoxide in the ambient medium and are thus used as an indicator of the presence of carbon monoxide.

Upchurch, Billy T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Metal oxide regenerable carbon dioxide removal system for an advanced portable life support system

The development of a CO2 removal system for an astronaut portable life support system to meet the EVA requirements for the Space Station is discussed, focusing on the factors important in the selection of the metal oxide absorbent for CO2 removal. Results from laboratory tests on metal oxide absorbent materials are given, including characterization studies and dynamic CO2 uptake and regeneration measurements. The preliminary design of the breadboard system to perform both the absorption and regeneration functions is presented.

Nacheff, Maurena S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The anaerobic degradation of organic matter in Danish coastal sediments - Iron reduction, manganese reduction, and sulfate reduction

A combination of porewater and solid phase analysis as well as a series of sediment incubations are used to quantify organic carbon oxidation by dissimilatory Fe reduction, Mn reduction, and sulfate reduction, in sediments from the Skagerrak (located off the northeast coast of Jutland, Denmark). Solid phase data are integrated with incubation results to define the zones of the various oxidation processes. At S(9), surface Mn enrichments of up to 3.5 wt pct were found, and with such a ready source of Mn, dissimilatory Mn reduction was the only significant anaerobic process of carbon oxidation in the surface 10 cm of the sediment. At S(4) and S(6), active Mn reduction occurred; however, most of the Mn reduction may have resulted from the oxidation of acid volatile sulfides and Fe(2+) rather than by a dissimilatory sulfate. Dissolved Mn(2+) was found to completely adsorb onto sediment containing fully oxidized Mn oxides.

Canfield, Donald E.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Development of a gravity-independent wastewater bioprocessor for advanced life support in space

Operation of aerobic biological reactors in space is controlled by a number of challenging constraints, mainly stemming from mass transfer limitations and phase separation. Immobilized-cell packed-bed bioreactors, specially designed to function in the absence of gravity, offer a viable solution for the treatment of gray water generated in space stations and spacecrafts. A novel gravity-independent wastewater biological processor, capable of carbon oxidation and nitrification of high-strength aqueous waste streams, is presented. The system, consisting of a fully saturated pressurized packed bed and a membrane oxygenation module attached to an external recirculation loop, operated continuously for over one year. The system attained high carbon oxidation efficiencies often exceeding 90% and ammonia oxidation reaching approximately 60%. The oxygen supply module relies on hydrophobic, nonporous, oxygen selective membranes, in a shell and tube configuration, for transferring oxygen to the packed bed, while keeping the gaseous and liquid phases separated. This reactor configuration and operating mode render the system gravity-independent and suitable for space applications.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
NASA NTRS1986

Global geochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur and oxygen

Time resolved data on the carbon isotopic composition of carbonate minerals and the sulfur isotopic composition or sulfate minerals show a strong negative correlation during the Cretaceous. Carbonate minerals are isotopically heavy during this period while sulfate minerals are isotopically light. The implication is that carbon is being transferred from the oxidized, carbonate reservoir to the reservoir of isotopically light reduced organic carbon in sedimentary rocks while sulfur is being transferred from the reservoir of isotopically light sedimentary sulfide to the oxidized, sulfate reservoir. These apparently oppositely directed changes in the oxidation state of average sedimentary carbon and sulfur are surprising because of a well-established and easy to understand correlation between the concentrations of reduced organic carbon and sulfide minerals in sedimentary rocks. Rocks rich in reduced carbon are also rich in reduced sulfur. The isotopic and concentration data can be reconciled by a model which invokes a significant flux of hydrothermal sulfide to the deep sea, at least during the Cretaceous.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1974

Molecular absorption parameters in atmospheric modelling

Molecular spectroscopic parameters are compiled for a number of infrared-active molecules occurring naturally in the terrestrial atmosphere. The following molecules are included in this compilation: water vapor; carbon dioxide; ozone; nitrous oxide; carbon monoxide; methane; and oxygen. The spectral region covered extends from less than 1 micron to the far infrared, and data are presented on more than 100,000 spectral lines. The parameters included in the compilation for each line are: frequency, intensity, half-width, energy of the lower state of the transition, vibrational and rotational identifications of the upper and lower energy states, an isotopic identification, and a molecular identification. Using this data compilation, band model parameters are presented for water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone averaged over 20 wavenumber intervals. Using these parameters in a random model formulation, transmittance spectra are provided and compared with both degraded monochromatic calculations and laboratory data.

Mcclatchey, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Catalyst for carbon monoxide oxidation

A catalyst is disclosed for the combination of CO and O2 to form CO2, which includes a platinum group metal (e.g., platinum); a reducable metal oxide having multiple valence states (e.g., SnO2); and a compound which can bind water to its structure (e.g., silica gel). This catalyst is ideally suited for application to high-powered pulsed, CO2 lasers operating in a sealed or closed-cycle condition.

Upchurch, Billy T.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Catalyst for carbon monoxide oxidation

A catalyst for the combination of CO and O2 to form CO2 which includes a platinum group metal, e.g., platinum; a reducible metal oxide having mulitple valence states, e.g., SnO2; and a compound which can bind water to its structure, e.g., silica gel. This catalyst is ideally suited for application to high powered, pulsed, CO2 lasers operating in a sealed or closed cycle condition.

Upchurch, Billy T.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Catalyst for Carbon Monoxide Oxidation

In many applications, it is highly desirable to operate a CO2 laser in a sealed condition, for in an open system the laser requires a continuous flow of laser gas to remove the dissociation products that occur in the discharge zone of the laser, in order to maintain a stable power output. This adds to the operating cost of the laser, and in airborne or space applications, it also adds to the weight penalty of the laser. In a sealed CO2 laser, a small amount of CO2 gas is decomposed in the electrical discharge zone into corresponding quantities of CO and O2. As the laser continues to operate, the concentration of CO2 decreases, while the concentrations of CO and O2 correspondingly increase. The increasing concentration of O2 reduces laser power, because O2 scavenges electrons in the electrical discharge, thereby causing arcing in the electric discharge and a loss of the energetic electrons required to boost CO2 molecules to lasing energy levels. As a result, laser power decreases rapidly. The primary object of this invention is to provide a catalyst that, by composition of matter alone, contains chemisorbed water within and upon its structure. Such bound moisture renders the catalyst highly active and very long-lived, such that only a small quantity of it needs to be used with a CO2 laser under ambient operating conditions. This object is achieved by a catalyst that consists essentially of about 1 to 40 percent by weight of one or more platinum group metals (Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, Ru, Os, Pt being preferred); about 1 to 90 percent by weight of one or more oxides of reducible metals having multiple valence states (such as Sn, Ti, Mn, Cu, and Ce, with SnO2 being preferred); and about 1 to 90 percent by weight of a compound that can bind water to its structure (such as silica gel, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, hydrated alumina, and magnesium perchlorate, with silica gel being preferred). Especially beneficial results are obtained when platinum is present in the catalyst composition in an amount of about 5 to 25 (especially 7) percent by weight, SnO2 is present in an amount of about 30 to 40 (especially 40) percent by weight, and silica gel is present in an amount of 45 to 55 (especially 50) percent by weight. The composition of this catalyst was suggested by preliminary experiments in which a Pt/SnO2 catalyst was needed for bound water to enhance its activity. These experimental results suggested that if the water were bound to the surface, this water would enhance and prolong catalyst activity for long time periods. Because the catalyst is to be exposed to a laser gas mixture, and because a CO2 laser can tolerate only a very small amount of moisture, a hygroscopic support for the catalyst would provide the needed H2O into the gas. Silica gel is considered to be superior because of its property to chemisorb water on its surface over a wide range of moisture content.

Davis, Patricia↗
NASA NTRS1978

Determination of carbon by the oxidation reduction reaction with chromium

Free carbon was determined in silicon and boron carbides in ash, oxides, and other materials by oxidation to carbon dioxide with a mixture of K2Cr2O7 + H2SO4. The determination was made from the amount of CR(6) consumed, by adding excess Mohr's salt and titrating with a standard solution of KMnO4. The amount of Cr(6) self reduced was determined in a blank test. Optimum oxidation and conditions were achieved when the volumes of 5% k2Cr2Oz and H2SO4 were equal. The mixture was boiled for 1-2 hours using a reflex condenser. The volume should not be reduced, in order to avoid an increase in the sulfuric acid concentration. The relative error was 4-7% for 0.005-0.04 g C and less than or equal to 3.5% for 0.1 g C.

Mashkovich, L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of carbon in interplanetary dust particles

The nature of the carbon-bearing phases in IDP's provides information regarding the chemical and physical processes involved in the formation and evolution of the early solar system. Several carbon-bearing materials have been observed in IDP's, but details of their nature, abundance, and distribution are still poorly known. A knowledge of the abundance and nature of carbon in IDP's is useful in constraining the sources of IDP's and for comparisons with other chondritic materials. Estimates of carbon abundance in anhydrous and hydrated IDP's indicate that most of these particles have significantly higher carbon than the carbonaceous chondrites. Mineralogical analyses show that carbonates are only a minor component of most hydrated IDP's, and so the high carbon abundances in this group of IDP's indicates that other carbon-bearing phases are present in significant concentrations. Using the technique of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), we have identified two forms of carbon in a hydrated IDP, oxidized carbon (carbonates), and amorphous elemental carbon.

Keller, Lindsay P.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Oxidation Behavior of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composites

OXIMAP is a numerical (FEA-based) solution tool capable of calculating the carbon fiber and fiber coating oxidation patterns within any arbitrarily shaped carbon silicon carbide composite structure as a function of time, temperature, and the environmental oxygen partial pressure. The mathematical formulation is derived from the mechanics of the flow of ideal gases through a chemically reacting, porous solid. The result of the formulation is a set of two coupled, non-linear differential equations written in terms of the oxidant and oxide partial pressures. The differential equations are solved simultaneously to obtain the partial vapor pressures of the oxidant and oxides as a function of the spatial location and time. The local rate of carbon oxidation is determined at each time step using the map of the local oxidant partial vapor pressure along with the Arrhenius rate equation. The non-linear differential equations are cast into matrix equations by applying the Bubnov-Galerkin weighted residual finite element method, allowing for the solution of the differential equations numerically.

Sullivan, Roy M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Chemical Constraints Governing the Origin of Metabolism: The Thermodynamic Landscape of Carbon Group Transformations

The thermodynamics of organic chemistry under mild aqueous conditions was examined in order to begin to understand its influence on the structure and operation of metabolism and its antecedents. Free energies were estimated for four types reactions of biochemical importance carbon-carbon bond cleavage and synthesis, hydrogen transfer between carbon groups, dehydration of alcohol groups, and aldo-keto isomerization. The energies were calculated for mainly aliphatic groups composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The energy values showed that (1) when carbon-carbon bond cleavage involves two different types of functional groups, transfer of the shared electron-pair to the more reduced carbon group is energetically favored over transfer to the more oxidized carbon group, and (2) the energy of carbon-carbon bond transformation is strongly dependent on the type of functional group that donates the shared electron-pair during cleavage, and the group that accepts the shared electron-pair during synthesis, and (3) the energetics of C-C bond transformation is determined primarily by the half-reaction energies of the couples: carbonyl/carboxylic acid, carboxylic acid/carbon dioxide, alcohol/carbonyl, and hydrocarbon/alcohol. The energy of hydrogen-transfer between carbon groups was found to depend on the functional group class of both the hydrogen-donor and hydrogen-acceptor. From these and other observations we concluded that the chemistry of the origin of metabolism (and to a lesser degree modem metabolism) is strongly constrained by the (1) limited disproportionation energy of organic substrates that can be dissipated in a few irreversible reactions, (2) the energy-dominance of few half-reaction couples in carbon-carbon bond transformation that establishes whether a chemical reaction is energetically irreversible, reversible or unfeasible, and (3) the dependence of the transformation-energy on the oxidation state of carbon groups (functional group type) which is contingent on prior reactions in the synthetic pathway.

Weber, Arthur L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Direct /TEM/ observation of the catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon by Pd particles

The catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon substrates by Pd particles is observed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Various modes of selective attack of the carbon substrate in the immediate neighborhood of Pd particles are observed, which can be correlated with different degrees of particle mobility. Using amorphous substrates we have been able to demonstrate that the particle-substrate interaction is influenced by the structure of the particle. This has not previously been noted.

Moorhead, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Soot Oxidation in Laminar Hydrocarbon/Air Diffusion Flames at Atmospheric Pressure

Soot oxidation was studied experimentally in laminar hydrocarbon/air diffusion flames at atmospheric pressure. Measurements were carried out along the axes of round jets burning in coflowing air considering acetylene, ethylene, proplyene and propane as fuels. Measurements were limited to the initial stages of soot oxidation (carbon consumption less than 70%) where soot oxidation mainly occurs at the surface of primary soot particles. The following properties were measured as a function of distance above the burner exit: soot concentrations by deconvoluted laser extinction, soot temperatures by deconvoluted multiline emission, soot structure by thermophoretic sampling and analysis using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), concentrations of stable major gas species (N2, H2O, H2, 02, CO, CO2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6, and C3H8) by sampling and gas chromatography, concentrations of some radical species (H, OH, O) by the deconvoluted Li/LiOH atomic absorption technique and flow velocities by laser velocimetry. It was found that soot surface oxidation rates are not particularly affected by fuel type for laminar diffusion flames and are described reasonably well by the OH surface oxidation mechanism with a collision efficiency of 0.10, (standard deviation of 0.07) with no significant effect of fuel type in this behavior; these findings are in good agreement with the classical laminar premixed flame measurements of Neoh et al. Finally, direct rates of surface oxidation by O2 were small compared to OH oxidation for present conditions, based on estimated O2 oxidation rates due to Nagle and Strickland-Constable, because soot oxidation was completed near the flame sheet where O2 concentrations were less than 1.2% by volume.

Xu, F.↗