Spacesuit contaminant removal using liquid sorbent

1. A spacesuit contaminant removal system comprising:

at least one membrane separator configured to:

receive a spent air stream from a ventilation system of a spacesuit,

absorb a contaminant from the spent air stream into a liquid sorbent,

discharge a clean air stream to the ventilation system, and

discharge the contaminant in a contaminant stream;

a liquid sorbent circuit configured to circulate the liquid sorbent through the at least one membrane separator, wherein the at least one membrane separator comprises:

a scrubber-separator configured to absorb the contaminant from the spent air stream into the liquid sorbent, and discharge the clean air stream to the ventilation system; and

a stripper-separator downstream of the scrubber-separator and configured to desorb the contaminant from the liquid sorbent using a vacuum of a space environment, and discharge the contaminant stream to the space environment; and

a water vaporizer configured to:

receive a cooling water stream from a liquid cooling and ventilation garment of the spacesuit,

discharge at least a portion of the water stream to the stripper-separator as a sweep gas stream using the vacuum of the space environment, and

discharge a remainder of the water stream to the liquid cooling and ventilation garment of the spacesuit.

2. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 1 , further comprising a membrane dehumidifier configured to:

remove humidity from the spent air stream; and

discharge the humidity to the stripper-separator as another sweep gas stream.

3. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 1 , further comprising

a water separator configured to remove water from the contaminant stream wherein the water vaporizer is configured to discharge the sweep gas stream containing the removed water to the stripper-separator.

4. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 1 , wherein the liquid sorbent circuit is further configured to circulate at least a portion of the liquid sorbent through a thermal management system of the spacesuit and the stripper-separator.

5. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 4 , wherein the thermal management system is configured to receive a cooling water stream from a water collection system of the liquid cooling.

6. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 4 , wherein the thermal management system is configured to receive a cooling water stream from a liquid cooling system of the liquid cooling and ventilation garment.

7. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 1 , wherein the liquid sorbent circuit is configured to:

receive clean liquid sorbent from a liquid sorbent system external to the spacesuit, and

discharge used liquid sorbent to the liquid sorbent system.

8. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 1 , wherein the contaminant is carbon dioxide.

9. A spacesuit contaminant removal system comprising:

at least one membrane separator configured to:

receive a spent air stream from a ventilation system of a spacesuit,

absorb a contaminant from the spent air stream into a liquid sorbent,

discharge a clean air stream to the ventilation system, and

discharge the contaminant in a contaminant stream;

a liquid sorbent circuit configured to circulate the liquid sorbent through the at least one membrane separator, wherein the at least one membrane separator comprises:

a scrubber-separator configured to absorb the contaminant from the spent air stream into the liquid sorbent, and discharge the clean air stream to the ventilation system; and

a stripper-separator downstream of the scrubber-separator and configured to desorb the contaminant from the liquid sorbent using a vacuum of a space environment, and discharge the contaminant stream to the space environment, and

wherein the liquid sorbent circuit is further configured to receive water from a cooling water stream of a liquid cooling and ventilation garment of the spacesuit into the liquid sorbent.

10. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , further comprising a membrane dehumidifier configured to:

remove humidity from the spent air stream; and

discharge the humidity to the stripper-separator as a sweep gas stream.

11. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , further comprising:

a water separator configured to remove water from the contaminant stream; and

a water vaporizer is configured to discharge a sweep gas stream containing the removed water to the stripper-separator.

12. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , wherein the liquid sorbent circuit is further configured to circulate at least a portion of the liquid sorbent through a thermal management system of the spacesuit and the stripper-separator.

13. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 12 , wherein the thermal management system is configured to receive a cooling water stream from at least one of a water collection system the liquid cooling and ventilation garment or a liquid cooling system of the liquid cooling and ventilation garment.

14. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , wherein the liquid sorbent circuit is configured to:

receive clean liquid sorbent from a liquid sorbent system external to the spacesuit, and

discharge used liquid sorbent to the liquid sorbent system.

15. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , wherein the contaminant is carbon dioxide.

16. The spacesuit contaminant removal system of claim 9 , further comprising the spacesuit.