Miniaturized, High Flow, Low Dead Volume Pre-Concentrator for Trace Contaminants in Water under Microgravity Conditions

Thorleaf Research, Inc. proposes to develop a miniaturized high flow, low dead-volume pre-concentrator for monitoring trace levels of contaminants in water under microgravity conditions. Our innovative design for the pre-concentrator assembly combines high water sampling flow rates with low dead volume in the device, enhancing pre-concentration while avoiding cavitation effects. This will help meet monitoring needs for NASA's Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines (SWEGs). Although miniaturized mass spectrometers and other detectors are under development by NASA, the potential of such instrumentation to meet NASA needs will not be realized without complementary developments in the technology for collecting and preparing samples for in situ measurements. Based on our analysis, we project that it will be possible to develop a miniaturized water pre-concentrator module with a mass on the order of 0.5 kg and an average power consumption of <1 watt, depending on the configuration selected. Our goal in the proposed SBIR Phase I effort is to demonstrate feasibility for such a system and to develop a detailed design for fabricating and demonstrating prototypes in Phase II.

The proposed high flow, low dead-volume pre-concentrator for monitoring trace levels of contaminants in water under microgravity conditions is designed to address a key technology gap for long-duration human spaceflight, especially for human exploration of the solar system beyond low-Earth orbit to the moon, near-Earth objects such as asteroids, future space stations established at Lagrange points, and missions to Mars and its moons. We plan to incorporate this technology into a miniaturized water pre-concentrator module, designed to be directly interfaced with other spacecraft instrumentation for air monitoring, such as the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor (VCAM), currently deployed on the International Space Station. This will enable long-term monitoring of trace contaminants in both air and water using a single instrument. It may also be possible to adapt our pre-concentrator sampling system for use in non-aqueous solvents. For example, an important future NASA planetary mission application might arise for pre-concentration of trace organic compounds in the cryogenic methane-ethane lakes on Saturn's moon Titan.

Analysis of commercial instrumentation markets shows that two of the three major growth areas for analytical instrumentation are real-time analysis and environmental monitoring, with projected annual growth rates of more than 15%. Our modular design approach for the miniaturized high flow, low dead-volume pre-concentrator for monitoring trace levels of contaminants in water under microgravity conditions will help it be adapted for measurement needs in scientific and environmental monitoring applications. For example, it may be possible to adapt this technology to meet needs for miniature field portable analytical chemical instrumentation for water monitoring applications. Thus, technical developments in the proposed program could provide significant new technology for specialized environmental monitoring needs.

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