Mini Total Organic Carbon Analyzer, Year 2 (miniTOCA)

The objective of this development is to create a prototype hand-held, 1 to 2 liter size battery-powered Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA).#The majority of missions beyond LEO require that all waste water sources on spacecraft be recycled into drinking water and verified clean to protect crew health. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is the sum of the carbon content of all organic contaminants in the water, and measuring TOC is a key method to monitor over all water quality, and is useful for tracking water processor system performance. If the TOC in the recycled water is kept low (< 1 part per million-ppm), the need to measure specific organic compounds is diminished if not eliminated entirely. This project will develop a greatly simplified and miniaturized TOCA vs. the current state of the art (locker sized, 40 kg). The current state of the art TOCA is fine for International Space Station, but Exploration missions cannot accomodate the mass, volume and power required. The goal of the project therefore is to reduce the mass, volume and power by more than 90%.#By miniaturizing the system, the required volume of water for analysis also diminishes. The MiniTOCA is a vital tool that will help enable exploration of space.

TOCA is the primary water quality monitor on ISS and could be one of 2 or 3 required for Exploration missions that recycle water. It is therefore critical that TOCA technology be miniaturized, hardened, and flight-tested in preparation for Exploration. This project is the first step in that sequence. Utilizing a subsystems approach, this project builds on both ISS TOCA development experience and the results from the first year of funding under the Center Independent Research and Development Program. MiniTOCA subsystems are physically stacked and combined to minimize or eliminate plumbing. Breadboarding is accomplished iteratively, with software (state machine) being written and refined in parallel with subsystem hardware changes. The power draw of the MiniTOCA will be within reach of either laptop USB port or rechargeable batteries. The MiniTOCA will be self-contained and hand-held. Eventually, a MiniTOCA flight system could serve as a back-up to the current TOCA units on ISS.#We anticipate that the water loop will be closed to a great extent on nearly all Exploration missions, meaning that all wastewater will be recycled - urine, condensate, hygiene wastewater, etc. The first significant human mission outside of Low Earth Orbit will need the miniTOCA. After a 3rd year of development funding, we envision the technology could be made ready for demonstration on ISS within 2 years. Success of an ISS flight experiment (technology demonstration) would ensure readiness of the MiniTOCA technology for future Exploration vehicles and habitats.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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