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Active TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 6)
The Exploration Capablities (EC) Life Support Systems project Oxygen Generation and Recovery technology development area encompasses several sub-tasks in an effort to supply oxygen to the crew at the required conditions, to recover oxygen from metabolic carbon dioxide, and to recycle recovered oxygen back to the cabin environment and purification of Hydrogen to enable CO2 reduction. These technologies are under consideration for future deep-space missions. The project is developing technologies to provide high-pressure oxygen either through using low-pressure electrolysis then drying, purifying, and compressing and through solid-state oxygen separation, then drying, purifying, and compressing. The project is developing a technology to deliver low-pressure high flowrate oxygen for crew medical oxygen needs and technologies to provide low pressure oxygen increase reliability and reduce mass via stative vapor feed electrolysis. In addtion to Oxygen resupply, the project is developing technologies to resupply Nitrogen for cabin pressure control maintenance. This minimizes the need to supply Nitrogen via tanks for the mission.
Efforts include:
Flight Like Advanced Materials Reactor (FLAMR) - A technology to increase oxygen recovery using methane pyrolysis and hydrogen separation to recover hydrogen from methane, combine the hydrogen with carbon dioxide to produce water, and then use electrolysis to separate oxygen from the hydrogen. Includes novel development and testing of composite reactors as a step toward a flight development.
Static Vapor Feed Electrolysis (SVFE) - An electrolyzer technology to generate low pressure oxygen without a recirculation loop for water feed, no water-hydrogen phase separator and no oxygen-water phase separator
Medical Oxygen - Technology to generate low pressure oxygen at high flowrates for crew medical needs.
Nitrogen Resupply: Technologies to provide Nitrogen to support cabin pressure control maintenance and repressurize cabin volumes to enable Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA).
The technologies developed in this project are being developed to improve on the state-of-the art used on the International Space Station or to develop new technologies required for deep-space missions and that are not needed on the International Space Station. These technologies can be used on deep-space exploration, including Mars missions.
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