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The destruction of organic contaminants in waste water for closed systems, such as that of the International Space Station, is crucial due to the need for recycling the waste water. A cocurrent upflow bubble column using oxygen as the gas phase oxidant and packed with catalyst particles consisting of a noble metal on an alumina substrate is being developed for this process. This paper addresses the development of a plug-flow model that will predict the performance of this three phase reactor system in destroying a multicomponent mixture of organic contaminants in water. Mass balances on a series of contaminants and oxygen in both the liquid and gas phases are used to develop this model. These mass balances incorporate the gas-to-liquid and liquid-to-particle mass transfer coefficients, the catalyst effectiveness factor, and intrinsic reaction rate.

A mathematical model is presented for analysis and optimization of the ion exchange beds in the International Space Station (ISS) Water Processor. The model consists of a physical properties database, an equilibrium description for binary and multicomponent ion exchange, and a kinetic description for ion exchange beds in the Water Processor. The ion exchange model will be verified for an Ersatz water designed to mimic the ISS shower/handwash waste stream.

A simple geometry pneumatic atomizer which could be used on internal combustion engine was tested with water as the working fluid. The pneumatic atomizer consists of a cylindrical chamber with an orifice plate at the outlet end. Liquid flows down the chamber walls and onto the nozzle orifice plate as a film. Air flows down the center of the chamber. The interaction of the air and water, which occurs at the orifice, atomizes the water. Large droplets form near the nozzle orifice and break up as they go down stream. Variations in the droplet size occurred in the spray. When geometry and flow rates were varied, changes which decreased the water film thickness or increased the air velocity at the nozzle orifice yielded smaller droplets in the spray. Droplet size data was measured by Malvern Laser Particle Sizer.