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Expired CO2 Measurement in Intubated or Spontaneously Breathing Patients from the Emergency Department
Published on: January 29, 2011
Enzyme-based CO2 capture for advanced life support
Jijun Ge1, Robert M Cowan, Chingkuang Tu
1Sapient's Institute, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Life Support & Biosphere Science : International Journal of Earth Space
|December 17, 2002
Summary
A novel enzyme-based bioreactor effectively captures carbon dioxide (CO2) in confined spaces. This technology significantly reduces CO2 transport resistance, offering a promising solution for air quality control in environments like spacecraft.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Environmental Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) poses significant health risks in enclosed environments.
- Effective CO2 control is crucial for life support systems in spacecraft, submarines, and aircraft.
- Existing CO2 removal methods may have limitations in efficiency or require consumables.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and evaluate a novel enzyme-based contained liquid membrane bioreactor for efficient CO2 capture.
- To assess the impact of carbonic anhydrase on CO2 transport resistance.
- To investigate the performance of the bioreactor under realistic conditions, including the presence of volatile organic compounds and alternative sweep methods.
Main Methods:
- Development of an enzyme-based contained liquid membrane bioreactor.
- Quantification of CO2 transport resistance across the liquid layer.
- Assessment of carbonic anhydrase's effect on transport resistance.
- Testing the bioreactor's tolerance to volatile organic compounds.
- Evaluation of an alternative sweep method using bypass gas and vacuum pressure.
- Measurement of CO2 selectivity over N2 and O2, and CO2 permeance.
Main Results:
- The liquid layer was identified as the primary resistance to CO2 transport.
- Addition of carbonic anhydrase reduced transport resistance by 71%.
- The bioreactor demonstrated stable operation for 1 day in the presence of expected volatile organic compounds.
- An alternative sweep method using bypass gas and vacuum pressure (-85 kPa) achieved CO2 separation comparable to inert sweep gas.
- High selectivity for CO2 over N2 (1400:1) and O2 (866:1) was observed.
- CO2 permeance was measured at 1.44 x 10(-7) mol m-2 Pa-1 s-1.
Conclusions:
- The enzyme-based contained liquid membrane bioreactor is a highly effective technology for CO2 capture.
- Carbonic anhydrase significantly enhances CO2 transport efficiency.
- The system shows promise for NASA applications in controlling CO2 levels in crewed and plant growth chambers.
- The developed alternative sweep method offers a consumable-free operation mode.
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