Additive Manufacturing of Structured Sorbents for CO2 and H2O Removal

NASA aims to use 3D-printed sorbent beds as drop-in replacements for the packed sorbent beds that are currently used in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) on the International Space Station (ISS). This change will have the benefits of providing equivalent system mass reduction due to better thermal and fluid management and mass transfer properties. In this SBIR project TDA Research, in collaboration with Missouri University of Science & Technology (MUST), proposes to develop optimized 3D printed sorbent structures with SOA zeolite (5A and 13X) and silica adsorbents that have been previously shown to be effective in removing CO2 and humidity respectively from spacecraft cabin air. In our approach we will optimize the 3D sorbent structures for cyclic operation i.e., as part of the additive manufacturing (AM) of the 3D printed sorbent structures we will incorporate integrated heating elements, which will allow us to directly apply heat to the sorbent and also use additives such as graphite as part of the binder mix to improve the heat transfer in the 3D sorbent structures. Finally, we will develop ways to scale-up the size of the sorbent monoliths that can be 3D printed so we can produce sorbent structures that can be used as drop-in replacements for packed sorbent beds such as those found in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) on the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA aims to use the 3D-printed sorbent beds as drop-in replacements for packed sorbent beds that are currently used in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) on the International Space Station (ISS). It has the benefits of providing equivalent system mass reductions due to better thermal and fluid management and mass transfer properties.

3D sorbent printing methods and techniques developed here will directly be applicable to other non-NASA applications, such as for use as a catalytic filter for indoor air quality management. The techniques can be easily adopted for other sorbent families such as metal organic frameworks and high silica zeolites.

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