North Haven Company Secures NASA Contract

NORTH HAVEN, CT — A North Haven company has secured a contract with NASA to develop technology that will help keep the air inside spacesuits healthier for astronauts, according to NewHavenBiz.com.

Precision Combustion Inc., located at 410 Sackett Point Rd., announced this week that it won a NASA SBIR Phase I contract to develop “develop vacuum-regenerable trace contaminant control for NASA exploration portable life support systems.”

NewHavenBiz reports the six-month contract is for $124,850. Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy and environmental technology company developing “new reactors and systems for energy and environmental sector applications,” according to its website.

Trace contaminants generated by the astronauts through metabolic processes contaminate the ventilation loop of a spacesuit and must be removed.

“PCI’s sorbent nanomaterials will be utilized in the modular Trace Contaminant Control (TCC) bed to effectively remove a broad range of trace contaminants including ammonia, formaldehyde, methyl mercaptan, and other VOC’s of interest,” according to a news release. “The proposed technology will advance xPLSS technology and increase mission capability, durability, and extensibility. This technology offers to limit the concentration of trace contaminants that threaten to exceed the 7-day Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentration (SMAC) levels.”

Successful implementation of PCI’s modular strategy will also “increase flexibility of equipment including for extended use while reducing total equipment volume and material inventory required for xPLSS and atmosphere revitalization applications,” the news release states. “Additional benefits include simplification of operations, reduced volume and weight, reduced power consumption, and suitability for continuous upgrading as new sorbent materials are developed.”

Dr. Christian Junaedi, the project’s principal investigator said the implementation of PCI’s sorbent nanomaterial technology is an “innovative solution for effective control of a broad range of trace contaminants in xPLSS.”

“In Phase I, we will identify and synthesize vacuum-regenerable sorbents that can meet performance requirements for contaminants removal,” Junaedi said. “In Phase II, we plan to develop a prototype ready for system-level validation testing and future integration within xPLSS.”

PCI President Kevin Burns said, “We need regenerable spacesuit life support systems to allow longer and more effective crew missions and further advance our ability to live in space and on the moon and planets. Further, these regenerable TCC sorbents will benefit not only astronauts; they will also have applications for more efficient and effective air cleaning in various industries on Earth.”