Novel Regenerative Carbon Analyzer for Water Quality Monitoring, Phase II

One of the highest priorities of a regenerative life support system for manned space missions (to the Moon, Mars, and other remote locations) is to recover and process wastewater to provide clean water. Among detectors used to monitor recycled water quality, a total organic carbon (TOC) instrument must be used to assess the organic contaminant level. Available TOC instruments have major limitations for space missions: they need periodic resupply of reagents and water; thus, storage of toxic chemicals and crew time for maintenance are required. The aim of this project is to develop a novel Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) for real-time monitoring of water quality. It will be designed with an operational lifetime of 5 years with no maintenance required and no need to supply reagents or water. During the Phase I, Lynntech designed, fabricated, and successfully tested both critical components of TOCA and a breadboard TOCA. Testing included ersatz reverse osmosis permeate water. Requirements for TOC range (0.25 to 50 ppm) and accuracy (? 25% above 1 ppm and ?0.25 ppm below 1 ppm) were met. During Phase II, an optimized, precise, reliable, flight qualifiable, microgravity compatible TOCA prototype will be designed, fabricated, tested, and delivered to NASA.

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.