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The simulation test for the controlled ecological life support system is planned by Institute for Environmental Sciences (IES) of Japan. The purpose of this test is to confirm that in the closed space, the environmental and life support system is normally carried out. The establishments to perform the simulation test has been constructed at Rokkasho-mura village, Aomori prefecture, in Japan. We have been developed “Oxygen Recovery System” which decompose carbon dioxide (CO2) and regenerate oxygen(O2), for the simulation test. The oxygen recovery system consists of a equipment to reduce CO2 using the Sabatier method and a equipment to regenerate oxygen using water electrolysis method (Refer to Figure 1). And this reaction principle is as follows; The carbon dioxide is produced by the respiration of human, animals and plants. The carbon dioxide is reduced to methane and water using hydrogen in the first reaction.

The simulation test for the closed ecology experiment facility is planned by Institute for Environmental Sciences(IES) of Japan. The purpose of this test is to confirm that in the closed space, how the ecological factors influence the mass circulating system. The environmental and life support system in IES is based on the same principle as on the earth where the carbon dioxide produced by the respiration of human and animals is reduced to oxygen by the photosynthesis of the plants, but as an auxiliary system, artificial carbon dioxide reduction system is planned to be attached. This report describes about the loop test for the reduction of carbon dioxide using the Sabatier method: the reduction of carbon dioxide using hydrogen, the decomposition of produced methane and the water electrolysis. (See Figure 1)

In closed environments such as space stations, it is necessary to eliminate CO2 produced by the metabolisms of crew members, for their life support, and to regenerate the air by supplying O2 to make up for the deficiency. If humans are to be in space only a short time, it is in general advantageous to adsorb CO2 with lithium hydroxide, and to supply O2 from tanks. But when the stay in space is long, it is essential to establish a highly reliable and energy-efficient system to recover CO2 in high concentrations and regenerate O2 from this recovered CO2 Fig. 1 shows the system presently conceived, which is roughly divided into the following processes: A process that removes and concentrates CO2 from the air; a CO2 reduction process that separates carbon from CO2 and obtains water; and a water electrolysis process that decomposes water electrically and recovers O2.

Since the space station operates inside closed environment over long periods of time, it is essential to develop technologies to control trace contaminants produced by the metabolism of the crew and by the materials from which it is made. In order to accomplish this objective, we first of all conducted studies of both the constituents and amounts of all the trace contaminants expected to appear, and then, on the basis of these studies, we discussed the optimum means of controlling them. As a result, we selected a combination of adsorption and catalytic oxidation as the technology to control these trace contaminants. We conducted adsorption experiments, catalytic oxidation experiments, and experiments to determine the effect on the catalyst capabilities of silicon and halogen constituents, which are thought to be catalytic poisons.