Air Revitalization by a Novel Photocatalyst  

KSE, Inc. 

Amherst, MA 

KSE has developed a novel photocatalytic technology for implementation in life support  systems for air revitalization in extended space operations. The developed process and catalyst have demonstrated a great ability to oxidize a wide range of  contaminants relevant to air revitalization at ambient temperature and low power consumption

• KSE’s ethylene scrubber is currently being used and commercialized by a private sector licensed firm
• The air revitalization process developed by KSE is considered a major advance in the field. Operating costs of EPA site cleanups have been reduced by 90% in specific applications by use of this technology
• The technology was warded the SBIR of the Year Award for Environment,  Energy, and Resources Management by NASA TechBriefs Magazine
• KSE was recognized by 1998 EPA Environmental Technology Innovator Award for use of the air revitalization system in Superfund Clean-up
• The technology was recognized by the 1998 R&D 100 Award by R&D Magazine 

• The Trademarked name of KSE’s system is the AIR2000 Process, where AIR is an acronym for an Adsorption-Integrated-Reaction Technology
• This product could be useful in any air purification market where air contaminants must be removed, including industrial emissions control or indoor air quality control
• The system is now being used commercially to control the air contaminants
• The commercial product has been completed and has been licensed
• This technology is a considerable leap over previous technologies, operating commercial units have shown a cost-savings of a factor of 50 over the previous best available control technologies
• The primary advantages of the AIR2000 technology are ambient temperature, operation, simplicity, small size, and low electricity consumption and operating costs
 

• The technology was developed for implementation in life support systems for the revitalization of air for extended space operations. The ethylene scrubber developed is both compact and lightweight, and has low power consumption requirements. The U.S. government is currently using this technology at government Superfund sites at full commercial scale, and achieving 99.99% destruction of air contaminants
• The air revitalization process developed by KSE has reduced the costs of elements of certain Superfund site cleanups by a factor of 50. The technology was recognized by R&D Magazine as one of the technology most significant new products of 1998 

Return to NASA SBIR Success Listings