In-Space Propulsion is submitting this proposal in support of Trust Area 18.02. We propose to demonstrate an engineering unit to convert metabolic waste to ethylene, ethanol, and other useful products. We previously demonstrated the feasibility of using carbon dioxide and hydrogen to synthesize hydrocarbons to support Astrobiological research. Our innovative program is based on these premises: (1) ethylene, ethanol, and other useful products can be synthesized from metabolic wastes to support miniature ecosystems and (2) these products are best synthesized using inorganic processes based on sound engineering principles. We believe our proposal satisfies requirements of Subtopic 18.02 which states the need of new technologies to enable the search of life elsewhere in the solar system, the search of water sources and to distinguish microorganisms and molecular structures within complex chemical mixtures. We focus on the reduction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen to synthesize many useful products. Our Phase I program objectives are (1) to design and build a unit for the catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen over a range of reaction conditions (reactant mole ratio, space velocity, catalyst composition/structure, bed length, etc.) and (2) to demonstrate the synthesis of ethylene and ethanol in a simple single pass system.
Potential Commercial Applications:Conversion of carbon dioxide to light hydrocarbons, e.g., methane and ethylene, will have a major economic impact on the electric power generation and petroleum refining industries by enabling them to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, as mandated by law, while manufacturing products of economic walue. Our proposed program, taken to its logical conclusion, will address the conversion of carbon oxides to useful products in detail.
