High-efficiency, non-fouling air filters are crucial for extended missions involving lunar exploration to maintain the well-being of crew members and the proper functioning of hardware. Existing Environmental Control and Life Support system architecture relies on High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters that require frequent cleaning and eventual replacement as irremovable particles embed themselves and reduce airflow. The heightened dust exposure from lunar regolith poses a significant challenge to the longevity of this infrastructure (e.g., bacterial filter element) during extended low- maintenance missions. Mainstream Engineering has focused on developing a high- efficiency cyclonic separator-based system that can serve as an addition or replacement for the conventional HEPA approach. This research builds upon validated CFD models of cyclone systems for sub-micron particle removal with model refinement, lifetime testing under relevant lunar particle loadings, efficiency improvements from surface effects and non-spherical particles, gravity agnosticism, and demonstration of integration into existing hardware. The resulting cyclone demonstrates comparable pressure drop to HEPA filters including collection of sub-micron particles, enabling reduction of dependency on HEPA media, extending the service life of existing systems and improving capabilities for long-duration lunar missions.
Haggerty et al. (2024) studied this question.