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Sub-System Coupling for Grey Water Purification (VPCAR) (VPCAR)
Canceled
TRL 7 (started at 7, targeting 7)
Description
Long duration manned spaceflight is constrained by the supplies required. Consumables such as food, breathing air and water have to be carried along. These supplies constitute a significant portion of the mission mass that has to be launched, and reducing the consumables required is a key area for game changing technologies that will enable manned deep space exploration. Several technologies have been under development to reclaim water in microgravity, with an emphasis on solutions that are lightweight and simplified enough to be robust for the space environment. One promising method is Vapor Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal (VPCAR). The VPCAR technology recycles grey water (feed) to potable water via a combined distillation and high temperature catalytic vapor oxidation process. This process relies on a Wiped-Film Rotating-Disk (WFRD) to provide the evaporation and condensation surfaces that make distillation possible in a range of gravitational fields from lunar to zero-g.
Benefits
No information available.
Details
| Technology area | Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems > Environmental Control and Life Support Systems and Habitation Systems > Water Recovery and Management |
| Program | Flight Opportunities (FO) |
| Lead organization | Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, FL |
| Start date | 2011-05-13 |
| End date | 2014-05-13 |
Project contacts
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
How to get involved
This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.