High Pressure Electrochemical Oxygen Generation for ISS

Giner, Inc. has developed an advanced electrochemical static vapor feed oxygen (O2) concentrator (SVFOC) that offers a simple alternative to the use of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems to generate high pressure oxygen for ISS and future human space flight applications. The SVFOC is based on proven electrolyzer technology demonstrated at Giner and delivers a continuous stream of dry O2 with a highly controllable oxygen pressure (0-3600 psig) by feeding deionized water and air into the stack. Generation of pure oxygen at 3,600 psig is particularly applicable for filling tanks used for extravehicular activity (EVA) directly. The water necessary for the electrochemical O2 pump is delivered as vapor by Giner's water management membrane (WaMM). The system operates quietly with quick start up/shutdown and the output stream O2 pressure and rate are easily controllable. The demonstrated SVFOC concept used a modified Giner lightweight single-cell static vapor feed electrolyzer. The preliminary results established steady operation of the stack up to 500 mA/cm2 with a stack temperature < 30C. The completion of this Phase I program proposed will result in the development of a 5-cell SVFOC stack capable of producing 0.9 kg/day of pure oxygen at 3,600 psig.