Since the start of human spaceflight life support systems have almost exclusively relied on mechanical filtration systems for water processing. This creates a large power draw, limiting the available ..
Since the start of human spaceflight life support systems have almost exclusively relied on mechanical filtration systems for water processing. This creates a large power draw, limiting the available power for other systems. Forward Osmosis is a method of filtration that uses passive fluid dynamics to pass water across a semi-permeable membrane. To test that quality of water filtered multiple methodologies will be utilized to test and confirm the finding of the Urea content in the filtered water solution. Utilizing spectrometry, both Urea and Urea Nitrogen will be chemically isolated and tested for the presence of. Along with spectrometry, H nuclear magnetic resonance testing will also be done to attempt to confirm the previously determined amount of trace urea still in the filtered solution. The goal of this experiment is to determine how much, if any, urea will move across a semi-permeable membrane during forward osmosis filtration. If any urea does cross the membrane, this experiment will establish a baseline of urea crossing to improve the system in the future.
