SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 422-7819

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Dr. Ambalavanan Jayaraman Ph.D.
krhodus@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-5391

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mr. John D. Wright
krhodus@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-2300

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

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)

Solid-core Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) has been identified as the advanced propulsion concept which could provide the fastest trip times with fewer Space Launch System (SLS) launches for human missions to Mars. Current environmental regulations require that radioactive halogens, noble gases, aerosols and particulates must be filtered out of NTP engine exhaust during ground testing. In Phase I, we demonstrated the ability of our sorbent to remove ppm levels of halogens and noble gases from helium at high space velocities over multiple regeneration cycles.

In this SBIR Phase II project, TDA Research, Inc. proposes to develop a novel scrubber that contains our high-capacity sorbent to remove of the radioactive halogens and noble gases from NTP engine exhaust, as part of NASA's larger exhaust treatment system. In Phase II, we will continue to optimize the sorbent formulation, scale up its production, and design and build a portable sub-scale unit to demonstrate its ability to selectively remove >99.5% radioactive halogens and noble gases under simulated NTP engine exhaust conditions. Based on the performance results, we will carry out a detailed design of the full-size scrubbing system for treating NTP engine exhaust and estimate its size, cost and energy requirements.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The sorbents developed in the Phase II will find use in scrubber systems for NTP engine exhaust during ground testing. Current environmental regulations require that radioactive halogens, noble gases, aerosols and particulates must be filtered out of NTP engine exhaust during ground testing to stay within safe limits. A high efficiency sorbent that removes radioactive halogens and noble gases (greater than 99.5%) is of specific interest to NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
There is a much larger commercial market for the sorbents developed here in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities to control emissions of radioactive halogens and noble gases. Some of the radioisotopes that are recovered (such as iodine-131) are also important in nuclear medicine.