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Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)
The key innovation of the work prior to the start of this project is the planar monolith - allowing for solid state oxygen production at pressures up to 300 psig. The key innovation of this proposed work is a new method of cell stack thermal management - with the key objective of reducing power use by more than 50% compared to current SOA. This thermal management approach is entirely new - it has not been used by any NASA, Industry, or academic project for oxygen separation. After the first year's work to develop and demonstrate a TRL 4 engineering prototype, next step is to develop and manufacture a fully packaged and integrated system suitable for flight demonstration on ISS.
Ceramic Transport Membranes can produce oxygen from air at high purity, at high pressure, using solid state processes. CTMs are not in widespread use because 1) the technology is new, and 2) in its current state it uses more power than other approaches. This project intends to replace the single-pass process air loop with a recirculating process air loop. The innovation: uncoupling fresh air intake from convective temperature control. The achievement: projected power use 1.4 Whr / liter of O2. The goal: to build and demonstrate a high purity (>99.99% O2) oxygen supply capable of providing suit recharge oxygen, contingency ECLS oxygen, or emergency medical oxygen - with power efficiency 63% better than the State of the Art, and unprecedented reliability that only solid state systems can achieve.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
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.
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.