Spacesuit contaminant removal using liquid sorbent
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsPhoebe Henson, Rebecca Kamire, Stephen Yates
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spacesuit contaminant removal system includes at least one membrane separator and a liquid sorbent circuit. The at least one membrane separator is configured to receive a spent air stream from a ventilation system of a spacesuit and absorb a contaminant from the spent air stream into a liquid sorbent. The at least one membrane separator is configured to discharge a clean air stream to the ventilation system and discharge the contaminant in a contaminant stream to a space environment using a vacuum of the space environment. The liquid sorbent circuit is configured to circulate the liquid sorbent through the at least one membrane separator.
Claims20
A spacesuit contaminant removal system comprising:
- at least one membrane separator configured to:
- receive a spent air stream from a ventilation system of a spacesuit,
- absorb a contaminant from the spent air stream into a liquid sorbent,
- discharge a clean air stream to the ventilation system, and
- discharge the contaminant in a contaminant stream;
- and
- a liquid sorbent circuit configured to circulate the liquid sorbent through the at least one membrane separator.
A method for removing a contaminant from a spacesuit, comprising:
- receiving, by at least one membrane separator, a spent air stream from a ventilation system of the spacesuit;
- circulating, by a liquid sorbent circuit, a liquid sorbent through the at least one membrane separator;
- absorbing, by the at least one membrane separator, the contaminant from the spent air stream into the liquid sorbent;
- discharging, by the at least one membrane separator, a clean air stream to the ventilation system;
- and
- discharging, by the at least one membrane separator, the contaminant in a contaminant stream.
A method for removing a contaminant from a ventilation system of a spacesuit, comprising:
- controlling, by a controller, a liquid sorbent circuit to circulate a liquid sorbent through a membrane scrubber-separator and a membrane stripper-separator, wherein the liquid sorbent includes a contaminant absorbed from a spacesuit ventilation system;
- and
- controlling, by the controller, a back pressure regulator valve fluidically coupled to the membrane stripper-separator and a space environment to create a pressure differential across the membrane stripper-separator to desorb the contaminant from the liquid sorbent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.