SBIR-STTR Award

The objective of this proposal is to create new gas chromatographs (GCs) for contaminant monitoring in spacecraft air that do not require any reagents or special carrier gases. Under DARPA support, Cbana has created a new class of microGCs that are smaller than ever before and yet show performance similar to those of full scale commercial GCs. In the proposed work we will redesign the GCs so that they can use air as a carrier gas. Key to the device is a very low pressure drop adsorbent bed that can capture the contaminants for analysis and produce a very pure air stream as a carrier gas. Phase I tests will be performed to optimize the performance of the adsorption bed and to verify that the GC columns work with air. The result will lead to a cabin air monitoring system that can detect all of the contaminants listed in the NASA report NASA report "Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations For Airborne Contaminants" and not require special carrier gases or reagents.

Based on the successful separation of 20 compounds using a 1 m coated microcolumn in Phase I, we propose to design a new micro-gas chromatograph (microGC) system to separate and detect of all contaminants listed in NASAs "Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Airborne Contaminants (SMACs)" using cabin air as the carrier gas, and to integrate the entire system to maximize the detection of the contaminants with high-sensitivity and accuracy. In order to attain these goals, we will use three sets of preconcentrators, columns, and detectors in parallel, each with the appropriate selectivity for a given class of gases. Light gases will use a packed column, and polar and non-polar gases with their respective stationary phases. The prototype micro-GC/FID will comprise preconcentrators with fast injection valves, microcolumns to separate different gas analytes, an air sampling pump, a water-hydrolysis hydrogen generator to provide enough oxygen and hydrogen for a micro-flame ionization detector, thermal management, controls and circuit board to drive the system.