Appendix E: KSC Exploration Systems and Development: Moon to Mars - Gas Separation Processes for High Purity Methane Production

Development of extra-terrestrial propellant production processes is a requirement for NASA’s Moon to Mars strategy and will rely upon the Sabatier Reaction for catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4). The current proposal will develop gas separation technologies to provide purified methane appropriate for storage in the liquid state and for utilization in propulsion systems. The cross-disciplinary team, comprising mechanical and chemical engineers, will collaborate on thermodynamic and unit operation modeling of the process, as well as, experimental work demonstrating pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology. The proposing team will leverage prior research expertise at KU including on-going NASA-funded thermodynamic modeling of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on Mars for propellant manufacture and expertise in conventional natural gas purification by adsorption. KU is home to the most advanced gravimetric gas adsorption equipment in the US and will deploy its latest technology, the Multicomponent Adsorption Module (MCAM), to the project. This advanced instrument developed collaboratively with Hiden Isochema as the product of an NSF MRI grant has been operational since October 2020 and will provide thermodynamic adsorption data for gas mixtures simulating the Sabatier Reaction product stream. Additionally, KU has identified preferred adsorbents for removal of carbon dioxide and nitrogen from natural gas streams and will utilize these preferred adsorbents in the proposed research program. The team will employ project management processes to guide the research to produce: (a) a thermodynamic model characterizing the required streams and energy flows in the gas separation process, (b) a technology design for water removal from the Sabatier Reaction product stream, (c) preliminary unit operation design for heat transfer within the process, and (d) experimental demonstration of gas purification via adsorption on solid oxide adsorbents.

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.