Singapore start-up Memsift Innovations Pte Ltd has received an order from the Danish Aerospace Company A/S to deliver a water recovery subsystem (WRSS) prototype for application in space.
Memsift has signed a product testing agreement (PTA) with Aquaporin Space Alliance ApS, a joint venture between Aquaporin A/S and Danish Aerospace Company. The contract will enable Memsift to design and develop a WRSS prototype based on the TS-30™ Improved Membrane Distillation (IMD) process by using proprietary STOMATE® membranes. The WRSS prototype is scheduled to be delivered to DAC by March 2020.
It is estimated that an astronaut uses around 4–6 litres of water per day for drinking, washing etc. Water which can be reused will provide a significant cost saving.
The prototype WRSS will recover at least 4 litres of water per day from the draw solute of the primary forward osmosis (FO) loop that uses biomimetic water filtration membranes from Aquaporin. The subsystem will be operated on the principle of simple thermodynamic (heat and mass transfer) and the driving force is the partial vapour pressure gradient across the membrane. It operates at relatively low temperature and pressure when compared to the conventional thermal and pressure driven membrane process and handles high salinity wastewater.
