Performance and properties of a solid amine sorbent for carbon dioxide removal in space life support applications

NASA is currently using a solid amine sorbent known as HSC+ for regenerativ ely removing CO2 in space shuttle applications. This sorbent may also be of value for CO2 removal in various industrial processes such as greenhouse g as control, industrial syntheses, and natural gas purification. To design n ovel sorbents and to design a CO2 scrubber based on HSC+, physical and ther mochemical property;data are required,In this paper, we present a detailed experimental investigation of property data and long-term performance resul ts using HSC+ as a CO2 sorbent. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine the heat capacity of the material. Cyclic and equilibrium capa cities of the material for CO2 pickup were determined and long-term test da ta show excellent performance. In addition, we have determined the heat of adsorption associated with CO2 pickup by HSC+ and the effect of moisture, u sing isothermal flow calorimetry. We have also performed thermal gravimetri c analyses on the materials to gain insight into the stability of the mater ial and determine the temperatures at which CO2 and constituents of HSC+ le ave the surface of the material.