Development of the Catalytic Oxidizer Technology for the European Space Programme

Steps of a Technology Development Programme leading to a technological Breadboard of a catalytic oxidizer assembly are described.

The assembly was designed to remove the light-weight hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide from a space station atmosphere. With regard to the necessary flowrates, CO turned out to be the design driver while methane governed the thermal design. A concept was selected consisting of a high flow/low temperature catalyst for CO oxidation and a low flow/high temperature catalyst for the removal of the more stable contaminants.

Test results on both assembly and ECLS-sub-system level, including experiments with selected catalyst poisons, are presented.