Design of a Trace Contaminant Control Model for Mission Evaluation

Trace Contaminant Control (TCC) is a vital component of an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The TCC’s function is to remove trace gases that could be harmful to the crew or equipment in an enclosed environment. Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) uses a passive Trace Contaminant Control Assembly (TCCA), developed under the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) program, to remove these trace gases. The TCCA is made up of an activated carbon (AC) sorbent bed and ambient temperature catalytic oxidizer (ATCO). The AC and ATCO remove trace gases from the cabin through chemisorption, physisorption, and oxidation removal processes. A separate filter removes ammonia from the habitat, called the Ammonia Filter Assembly (AFA). Paragon has created a Trace Contaminant Control Transient Code (TCCTC), which models the removal efficiency performance of the TCCA and AFA. The TCCTC requires input variables such as habitat volume, crew count, and mission duration, and can predict key mission values, including Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) count, ORU lifetime, and atmosphere toxicity. The TCCTC model is a valuable tool that can be used in future programs to make a high-level prediction of TCC architectures for different mission profiles. The mission profiles used in this analysis are not indicative of HALO mission parameters.