Wastewater to Drinking Water on an Early Planetary Base

Abstract

The wastewater-purification system on the International Space Station recovers about 75 percent of the contaminated water on board. Increasing this recovery rate decreases the need for resupply missions in the future. When the going rate for moving material into space is $22,000/kg reusing and recycling is extremely important. The design team’s goal is to design a water-purification system that can increase the life expectancy of the overall system. The designed trace contaminant control system uses an activated-charcoal bed acting as a blanket filter. After the beds, the stream passes through a photocatalytic oxidizer that uses ultraviolet light and titanium dioxide to create radicals and remove volatile organic compounds. Finally, the Microlith adsorber removes contaminants such as ammonia and carbon dioxide. A heat-exchanger network has been developed using the available ammonia loop to condense out the water. The designed system is scheduled to be implemented in the late 2020s. The expected cost is $19.8 million which includes the equipment, transportation to space, and utilities for one year. This was created with Paragon SDC in Tucson, and is expected to be implemented in future missions to space.