Highly Efficient, Solid State Hydrogen Purification for Resource Recovery

Long duration manned space exploration requires further closure of the oxygen loop of the life support system than is currently realized aboard the International Space Station. In order to further close the oxygen loop, NASA has been developing an advanced Plasma Pyrolysis (PPA) technology that reduces the waste methane to higher order hydrocarbons in order to better utilize the hydrogen for oxygen recovery. In order for this PPA technology to be feasible, there must be a means to separate the hydrogen from the other compounds for recycle to the Sabatier reactor. Sustainable Innovations' signature electrochemical cell architecture embodied in A Highly Efficient, Solid State Hydrogen Purification System for Resource Recovery (HRR), provides a solution to NASA's search for regenerative separation technology enabling maximum hydrogen recovery from a stream containing water vapor, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons including methane, acetylene, ethane, and ethylene, among others. During the Phase II effort, Sustainable Innovations will design and fabricate a full-scale prototype four crew-member (4-CM) unit, optimizing hydrogen utilization, weight and volume, and enabling full integration of the HRR with PPA and Sabatier systems.