Search Results

Trace contaminants originating from both material off-gassing and human metabolism may cause human safety and welfare issues, when they accumulate in the air of closed manned environments. Biological oxidation is a viable solution for the removal of these contaminants. The Biological Air Filter, BAF, a development of Stork and Bioclear is a continuously operating system, which degrades trace volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) to harmless components, i.e. water and CO2. The BAF forms an interesting alternative to the existing physical-chemical trace contaminant control systems. This ecological system is low in weight, volume and power consumption. Due to the nature of the system the maintenance requirements are also very limited. The applied microorganisms are harmless and the system is operated at atmospheric pressure, which makes the system extremely safe within the operating environment.

For a planetary base, a reliable life support system including food and water supply, gas generation and waste management is a condition sine qua non. While for a short-term period the life support system may be an open loop, i.e. water, gases and food provided from the Earth, for long-term missions the system has to become more and more regenerative. Advanced life support systems with biological regenerative processes have been studied for many years and the processes within the different compartments are rather complete and known to a certain extent. The knowledge of the associated interfaces, the management of the input and output phases: liquid, solid, gas, between compartments, has been limited. Nowadays, it is well accepted that the management of these phases induces generic problems like capture, separation, transfer, mixing, and buffering. A first ESA study on these subjects started mid 2003.