NASA SBIR 2009 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 W. 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-2300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Gokhan Alptekin
galptekin@tda.com
12345 W. 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-2349

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
A practical CO2 control system for ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) on Mars have not yet been developed. TDA Research, Inc. proposes to develop a durable, high-capacity, continuously regenerable sorbent that can remove CO2 from the breathing loop. The energy for regeneration is provided by the metabolic load, and the sorbent can be regenerated at or above 6 torr, eliminating the potential for Martian atmosphere to leak into the regeneration bed and into the breathing loop.

In Phase I, we demonstrated the feasibility of the concept in a series of bench-scale experiments and by conducting a preliminary system analysis. We showed the sorbent regeneration can be accomplished with a temperature swing of only 17ºC, The entire system runs at near ambient temperature, and the sorbent can be regenerated at 13 torr (well above the Martian atmospheric pressure). We also performed over 1,000 adsorption/regeneration cycles to demonstrate the life of these sorbents. The major objective in Phase II is to design and fabricate a full-scale breadboard prototype unit to demonstrate the merits of the new technology. We will also improve the sorbent formulation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The main attraction of our research to NASA is its ability to provide a lightweight, compact, and efficient CO2 removal system capable of regenerable, extended operation during the EVAs. Continuous regeneration during the EVAs eliminates the consumable requirement related to the use of LiOH canisters and the mission duration limitations imposed by MetOx system. If proven successful, the concept will minimize the amount of consumables brought from Earth and make the mission more affordable, while providing great operational flexibilities during the EVAs

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The sorbent developed in this project could potentially find use in a large commercial market in the removal of CO2 emissions from the coal-fired power plants. If regulations are put in place to curb carbon emissions from power plants the potential market for a successful sorbent is in the order of billions of dollars.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Portable Life Support