Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Regenerative Bosch Reactor, Phase I
Project Description
Oxygen (O2) contained within waste carbon dioxide (CO2) is a vital resource during long-duration, manned missions that must be reclaimed by Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) hardware. Current CO2 reduction technology to recapture oxygen as water utilizes the Sabatier reaction, in which, two moles of water and one mole of methane are produced for each mole of CO2 reduced. Unfortunately, only half of the hydrogen consumed in the reaction can be recovered by water electrolysis. In contrast, the Bosch reaction produces water and elemental carbon, recovering all hydrogen consumed and closing the O2 - CO2 reduction loop. Previous experience has shown the primary problem with the Bosch reaction is carbon production, which deactivates the catalyst and eventually plugs the reactor. An innovative Regenerative Bosch Reactor (RBR) is proposed to overcome this problem, in which, a bed of small spherical ferromagnetic catalyst beads is periodically agitated using mechanical or magnetic forces to abrade carbon from the catalyst surface. Carbon is expelled from the RBR by the gas stream and collected downstream. The Phase I project will demonstrate catalyst regeneration. A prototype RBR will be designed, assembled, and thoroughly tested during the Phase II program providing NASA with a test bed for independent evaluation. The RBR will improve atmosphere loop closure and lower the ESM for CO2 reduction by recovering all of the hydrogen reductant.
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Anticipated Benefits
There are two major areas for commercial application of the RBR technology. The first area concerns the mitigation of carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. In this case, industrial processes can be retrofitted with a RBR system that converts carbon dioxide to a collectable solid, carbon, and a harmless gas, water vapor. The second commercialization area concerns reactor technology, and in particular, applications where catalyst fouling by reaction byproducts are a significant concern. As such, the RBR design can be modified to accommodate a variety of catalysts used in a variety of reactions and reactors. The NASA application for this technology will be as Flight Hardware for deployment in support of future, long duration exploration objectives beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) where efficient, reliable, low ESM atmospheric revitalization to reduce logistics burden for ECLSS hardware. The Regenerative Bosch Reactor (RBR) technology provides a simple, microgravity compatible method to continuously recover oxygen from carbon dioxide without the loss of the hydrogen reductant or degradation of process efficiency. The complete recovery of hydrogen will lower the ESM for this technology compared to Sabatier reaction based methods. Moreover, long-term Bosch reactor operation with the concomitant lowering of hydrogen resupply penalties will favor this approach in future atmospheric revitalization systems used aboard spacecraft and within extraterrestrial habitats.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| UMPQUA Research Company | Lead Organization | Industry | Myrtle Creek, Oregon |
Marshall Space Flight Center
(MSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Huntsville, Alabama |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Alabama
-
Oregon
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.