Solid Polymer Electrolysis Oxygen Generator Testing at MSFC

The International Space Station (ISS) redesign made operational and interface requirements changes to the previous Space Station Freedom baseline. These changes include Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) production only on the daylight side of each orbit; nitrogen interface pressure reduction to 100 +/- 10 psia (690 +/- 69 kPa); and available production rates of nominal, nominal +10%, and nominal -10%.

In 1994 a test program was initiated at MSFC to verify OGA capabilities for cyclic operation. The liquid feed solid polymer electrolyzer from the 1990 OGA Comparative Test was refurbished and modified as required. This paper describes the operation of the test unit, and presents a discussion of the test data and test results.