{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":34152,"title":"Positrusion Filament Recycling System for ISS","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10883,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10879,"level":3,"code":"TX12.4.4","title":"Sustainable Manufacturing","definition":"Sustainable manufacturing reduces (or eliminates) hazardous materials in production processes.","exampleTechnologies":"Removing hazardous materials from by-product of manufacturing processes, using green energetic compounds","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":4,"currentTrl":6,"endTrl":6,"benefits":"Positrusion supports NASA's current efforts aboard the ISS as well as in future deep space missions by providing a facility for recycling scrap plastic parts to form high quality 3D printer-ready feedstock to enable on-orbit manufacture of tools, containers, radiation shielding, and mechanical parts. The installation of this facility will provide launch savings by reducing the launched mass required to restock ISS printers, as well as optimizing the amount of raw material required for deep space missions that utilize NASA's 3D printing. The Positrusion system will also enable recycling of packaging materials and other plastic parts into useful filament, reducing the waste mass that must be deorbited by cargo vehicles. Positrusion process also produces superior filament quality than conventional commercial processes, making it ideally suited to supply any NASA needs for terrestrially produced filament. It is also very efficient for small-batch filament production, reducing the costs and schedule for development and qualification of new filament materials.
Positrusion's produces filament of superior quality compared to conventional commercial processes, is well suited to small-batch filament production with zero wasted material, and uses a simple architecture that is more appropriate for operation by regular 3D-printer users. These attributes make it well suited for part recycling applications in consumer and pro-sumer 3D-printer markets TUI plans to target the aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer, and R&D markets for commercialization of the Positrusion plastics recycling technology.","description":"The Positrusion ISS Recycler enables recycling of scrap and waste plastics into high-quality filament for 3D printers to enable sustainable in-situ manufacturing on the ISS and future deep-space manned missions. In order to minimize astronaut time required for recycling, mitigate safety risks, and improve the quality of product relative to conventional filament extrusion methods, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) has developed a novel \"Positrusion\" method for processing plastic pieces into filament. The Phase I effort successfully demonstrated Positrusion recycling of 3D-printed scrap ABS and Ultem materials back into filament, establishing the technology at TRL-4. Moreover, testing demonstrated that Positrusion achieves order-of-magnitude improvement in filament dimensional quality compared to commercially-available filament, which not only will improve the performance and reliability of ISS 3D printers but also make Positrusion competitive in terrestrial commercial applications, such as recycling plastic wastes in the home and office into useful 3D printer feedstock. The Phase II effort will deliver a complete ISS recycler payload system configured as an EXPRESS locker payload, flight qualified and at TRL-6. The Positrusion payload will provide recycling services aboard the ISS with operations that are as simple, safe, and reliable as a microwave oven, enabling astronauts to place scraps in the machine, push a button, and then move on to other duties while the recycler automatically processes the part into spooled filament.","startYear":2015,"startMonth":5,"endYear":2017,"endMonth":4,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":219780,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jesse","lastName":"Cushing","fullName":"Jesse I Cushing","fullNameInverted":"Cushing, Jesse I","middleInitial":"I","primaryEmail":"cushing@tethers.com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":215154,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Gustetic","fullName":"Jennifer L Gustetic","fullNameInverted":"Gustetic, Jennifer L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jennifer.l.gustetic@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","primaryEmail":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":3164762,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Hong (Tony)","lastName":"Kim","fullName":"Hong (tony) Kim","fullNameInverted":"Kim, Hong (tony)","primaryEmail":"tony.kim@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":461333,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Theresa","lastName":"Stanley","fullName":"Theresa M Stanley","fullNameInverted":"Stanley, Theresa M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"theresa.m.stanley@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[{"file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":301542,"fileName":"briefchart","fileSize":111397,"objectId":298083,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"108.8 KB"},"files":[{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":301542,"fileName":"briefchart","fileSize":111397,"objectId":298083,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"108.8 KB"}],"id":298083,"title":"Briefing Chart","description":"Positrusion Filament Recycling System for ISS, Phase II Briefing 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System","startTrl":2,"currentTrl":4,"endTrl":4,"benefits":"By enabling reclamation of materials used by NASA's on-orbit 3d printing facilities, this effort will minimize the requirements for resupplying and/or storing excess feedstock for orbital and deep space missions that utilize 3D printing for replacement parts, unforeseen needs, and planned sequential repurposing of components for progressive phases of a given mission. The proposed effort supports the \"In-Space Assembly, Fabrication and Repair\" technical need identified in NASA Technology Roadmap 2012 TA12; WBS 2.4.1.d.
This novel process that is fundamentally better suited for reclaiming scrap material on the ISS will also be ideal for private consumers and professional users to recycle scraps from many commercial 3d printers. Several small companies have advertised bench-top extruder machines for making filament, some even being designed to recycle scraps, but all of those we are aware of are emulations of the traditional industrial process and are not sufficiently reliable for the average user. The Positrusion process would not be suited for high through-put industrial purposes, but it will be marketable to a large portion of the growing population of household and workplace 3d printer users to enable individuals to efficiently practice a self-sustaining 3D printer material cycle.","description":"TUI proposes a novel process to produce 3d printer feedstock filament out of scrap ABS on the ISS. Currently the plastic filament materials that most 3d printers use are produced with screw-based extruders that are fundamentally designed for high volume terrestrial production from uniformly pelletized resin feedstock. These require relatively large continuous batch sizes with significant operator inputs and have generally poor control over the produced filament geometry. Existing extrusion machines also tend to rely on separate facilities for fully drying the material beforehand, and do not inherently provide tight flow-rate control. The proposed effort will develop a filament extruding machine that uses a process called Positrusion that is designed from the ground up for optimally producing small batches of positively controlled round filament directly out of arbitrarily shaped scraps of ABS plastic, while meeting requirements for operation on the ISS. The machine will accept miscellaneous ABS parts, it will dry and degas the input material before melting and extruding it through a die, and the cross-sectional dimensions and feed-rate of the cooling extrudate will be tightly controlled in a continuous analog of closed-die molding.","startYear":2014,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2014,"endMonth":12,"statusDescription":"Completed","website":"","program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"
The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdId":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer"},"lastUpdated":"2024-1-10","releaseStatusString":"Released","viewCount":110,"endDateString":"Dec 2014","startDateString":"Jun 2014"},"infoText":"Advanced from another project within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Positrusion Filament Recycling System)","dateText":"May 2015"},{"transitionId":65543,"projectId":34152,"transitionDate":"2017-04-01","path":"Closed Out","closeoutDocuments":[{"title":"Final Summary Chart","file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":305743,"fileName":"finalSummaryChart","fileSize":237231,"objectId":65543,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":1841,"code":"TRANSITION_FILES","description":"Transition Files","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"fileSizeString":"231.7 KB"},"transitionId":65543,"fileId":305743}],"infoText":"Closed out","infoTextExtra":"","dateText":"April 2017"}],"primaryImage":{"file":{"fileExtension":"jpg","fileId":302250,"fileSizeString":"0 Byte"},"id":298793,"description":"Positrusion Filament Recycling System for ISS, Phase II","projectId":34152,"publishedDateString":""},"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
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