Development of Methane Pyrolysis System for High-Yield Soot-Free Recovery of Oxygen from Carbon Dioxide

This notice is provided for information purposes only.  NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to Honeywell, Phoenix, Arizona, for the effort entitled, "Development of Methane Pyrolysis System for High-Yield Soot-Free Recovery of Oxygen from Carbon Dioxide." This award results from a competitive selection under the NASA Headquarters released NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNH14ZOA001N, entitled Space Technology - Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion - 2014 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2014), Game Changing Development (GCD) Program Appendix C.2 Advanced Oxygen Recovery (AOR) for Spacecraft Life Support Systems - Phase II.

NASA's GCD Program advances space technologies that may lead to entirely new approaches for the Agency's future space missions and provide solutions to significant national needs. The GCD Program focuses efforts in the mid Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range of (3-5/6), generally taking technologies from proof of concept through component or breadboard testing in a relevant environment. The Phase II AOR appendix solicited the development of advanced oxygen recovery technologies applicable to NASA's future exploration missions. The current state-of-the-art for spacecraft oxygen recovery is the Carbon Dioxide Reduction System (CRS) currently in use on the International Space Station. The CRS relies on a Sabatier reactor to recover oxygen by reducing the metabolically produced carbon dioxide. However, the CRS is only capable of recovering less than 50% of the oxygen present in the carbon dioxide stream due to limitations in available hydrogen (approximately half of the hydrogen is lost as methane).

Under this effort, the contractor will design and fabricate a more mature prototype system (at least Technology Readiness Level 5) capable of recovering at least 75% of oxygen from the simulated product feed of a Sabatier reactor, including methane, when coupled with a water electrolysis system. The technology developed will target utilization on human spacecraft traveling beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), including deep space transit, other planetary surfaces, and any long endurance (greater than one year) missions.