Micro GC's for Contaminant Monitoring in Spacecraft Air

The objective of this proposal is to create new gas chromatographs (GCs) for contaminant monitoring in spacecraft air that do not require any reagents or special carrier gases. Under DARPA support, Cbana has created a new class of microGCs that are smaller than ever before and yet show performance similar to those of full scale commercial GCs. In the proposed work we will redesign the GCs so that they can use air as a carrier gas. Key to the device is a very low pressure drop adsorbent bed that can capture the contaminants for analysis and produce a very pure air stream as a carrier gas. Phase I tests will be performed to optimize the performance of the adsorption bed and to verify that the GC columns work with air. The result will lead to a cabin air monitoring system that can detect all of the contaminants listed in the NASA report NASA report "Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations For Airborne Contaminants" and not require special carrier gases or reagents.