Life testing of the vapor compression distillation urine processor assembly (VCD/UPA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Wastewater and urine generated on the International Space Station (ISS) will be processed to recover pure water using vapor compression distillation (VCD). To verify the long-term reliability and performance of the VCD Urine Processor Assembly (UPA), life testing was performed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) from January 1993 to April 1996. Two UPAs, the VCD-5 and VCD-5A, were tested for 204 days and 665 days, respectively. The compressor gears and the distillation centrifuge drive belt were found to have operating lives of approximately 4800 h, equivalent to 3.9 years of operation on ISS for a crew of three at an average processing rate of 1.76 kg/h (3.87 lb/h). Precise alignment of the flex-splines of the fluids and purge pump motor drives is essential to avoid premature failure after about 400 h of operation. Results indicate that, with some design and procedural modifications and suitable quality control, the required performance and operational life can be met with the VCD/UPA.