TDA RESEARCH INC.(TDA) IN COLLABORATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MAYAGUEZ (UPRM IS PROPOSING TO DEVEL…

Public award description

TDA RESEARCH INC.(TDA) IN COLLABORATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MAYAGUEZ (UPRM IS PROPOSING TO DEVELOP A HIGHLY EFFICIENT CO2 REMOVAL SYSTEM BASED ON UPRM PROPRIETARY STRONTIUM EXCHANGED SILICO-ALUMINO-PHOSPHATE (SR-SAPO-34) SORBENT FOR CLOSED LOOP SPACE CRAFT CABIN AIR RE-VITALIZATION DURING DEEP SPACE MISSIONS. IN THE PHASE I WORK, WE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED BENCH-SCALE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATIONS, ELEVATING THE TRL TO 3. IN PHASE II, WE WILL FURTHER OPTIMIZE THE SORBENT AND SCALE-UP ITS PRODUCTION USING ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS CONTINUOUS MICROWAVE SYNTHESIS. WE WILL CARRY OUT MULTIPLE ADSORPTION/DESORPTION CYCLES TO DEMONSTRATE THE SORBENT'S CYCLE LIFE (>500). WE WILL DEVELOP A CFD MODEL TO OPTIMIZE THE CYCLIC OPERATION OF THE SORBENT SYSTEM AND CARRY OUT A DETAILED ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT OF THE FULL-SCALE SYSTEM. FINALLY, WE WILL DESIGN AND FABRICATE A SUB-SCALE PROTOTYPE TO FULLY DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY UNDER SIMULATED SPACECRAFT CABIN ATMOSPHERES (TRL-5); THIS UNIT WILL BE SENT TO NASA FOR FURTHER TESTING AND EVALUATION.