DBD-NRPD Reactor Performance for CO₂ Conversion for Mars ISRU: an Experimental Study

Plasma-based CO₂ conversion is a promising power-to-gas chemical synthesis process to support long-duration missions to Mars. Carbon dioxide comprises 96% of Mars’ atmosphere and is a byproduct of human respiration, which must be scrubbed from space habitats. Nonthermal plasmas leverage electron excitation chemistry to achieve kinetic activation and split the stable bonds of CO₂ at modest temperatures, so reactors integrated with product separation technology could generate oxygen for life support and rocket propellant from abundant CO₂ . Many experiments have been performed at the laboratory scale, but advances in understanding the coupled pressure, temperature, and reduced electric-field dependence of the relevant chemical processes is still needed to inform the system-level reactor design and achieve flight readiness. This work presents preliminary experimental results from a campaign conducted at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Applied Chemistry Lab. Utilizing their suite of chemical analysis tools (FTIR, GC/MS, OES), the performance of a DBD NRPD reactor for CO₂ conversion is characterized in terms of dissociation fraction and energy efficiency at a range of electrical and operating pressure conditions. Particular attention is given to conditions that may enhance system-level efficiency, such as Mars ambient pressure, and measurements that inform integration with separation technologies, like gas temperature.