NASA PRESENTLY PROVIDES THE HIGH PURITY, HIGH PRESSURE OXYGEN USED BY THE EVA MOBILITY UNIT (EMU, OR SPACESUIT) WITH SHUTTLE DERIVED OXYGEN. THE OXYGEN IS LAUNCHED ON THE SHUTTLE AS A CRYOGENIC FLUID, TRANSFERRED TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) AS A MODERATE PRESSURE GAS USING A TRANSFER HOSE, FURTHER COMPRESSED USING AN ONBOARD COMPRESSOR, AND STORED IN LARGE EXTERNAL HIGH PRESSURE OXYGEN STORAGE TANKS. AFTER THE SHUTTLE RETIRES, ISS WILL CONTINUE TO CONDUCT EVAS AND NEED A NEW SUPPLY OF HIGH PRESSURE HIGH PURITY OXYGEN. THE ISS USES WATER ELECTROLYSIS TO PROVIDE LOW PRESSURE OXYGEN FOR METABOLIC CONSUMPTION. NASA IS DEVELOPING A SYSTEM TO FILTER CABIN AIR, CONCENTRATE A STREAM OF LOW PRESSURE HIGH PURITY OXYGEN, COMPRESS THE OXYGEN WITH AN ON BOARD COMPRESSOR, AND STORE THE OXYGEN IN THE EXTERNAL HIGH PRESSURE OXYGEN STORAGE TANKS. THE OXYGEN PURITY REQUIREMENT FOR USE IN THE EMU IS GREATER THAN 99.5% PURITY. THE DELIVERY RATE TARGET IS 5 LBS O2 PER DAY. THE SEPARATION SYSTEM NEEDS TO OPERATE IN THE ISS ENVIRONMENT. ONE OF THE APPROACHES FOR OXYGEN CONCENTRATION USES A TWO BED, SINGLE STAGE, VACUUM PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION (VPSA) SYSTEM. NASA HAS COLLECTED PERFORMANCE DATA FROM TWO DIFFERENT VPSA DEVICES. THE FIRST DEVICE IS A SUB SCALE PROTOTYPE UNIT, THAT MEETS O2 PURITY REQUIREMENTS, BUT PRODUCES LESS THAN 5 LBS PER DAY. THE SUBSCALE DEVICE USES A SORBENT DESCRIBED IN US PATENT 6,432,170. THE PATENT HOLDERS DO NOT HAVE ADDITIONAL SORBENT MATERIAL AVAILABLE FOR USE BY NASA. BECAUSE NASA NEEDS A RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNT OF SORBENT (NOMINALLY 250 LBS FOR THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, INCLUDING RESERVE MATERIAL), THE PATENT HOLDERS CANNOT PRODUCE A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE BATCH OF SORBENT SPECIFICALLY FOR NASA. NASA S SECOND PROTOTYPE SYSTEM IS A FULL SCALE, TWO BED, SINGLE STAGE, VPSA SYSTEM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MORE THAN 5 LBS OF OXYGEN PER DAY. BECAUSE OF SORBENT LIMITATIONS, THIS SYSTEM IS NOT CAPABLE OF MEETING THE 99.5% O2 PURITY REQUIREMENT. NASA SEEKS TO TEST THE PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATE SORBENTS IN THE 5 LB PER DAY PROTOTYPE UNIT. ADDITIONALLY, NASA SEEKS TO ASSESS KEY SORBENT PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. NASA IS WILLING TO CONSIDER ANY SORBENTS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING AN OXYGEN STREAM WITH GREATER THAN 99.5% PURITY WHEN CONCENTRATING STANDARD AIR. ONE APPROACH WOULD BE TO USE THE MATERIAL SPECIFIED IN US PATENT 6,432,170, ASSIGNED TO AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS, INC. (CONTACT JEFF KNOPF @ [email protected]). NASA IS ALSO INTERESTED IN OTHER SORBENTS CAPABLE OF SEPARATING HIGH PURITY OXYGEN FROM AIR. IF TEST RESULTS ARE FAVORABLE, NASA MAY PURCHASE SORBENT FOR OXYGEN SEPARATION SYSTEMS. THE NOMINAL BATCH SIZE OF THIS ORDER IS 250 LBS (MAYBE MORE, MAYBE LESS, DEPENDING ON THE COST OF THE MATERIAL). NASA INTENDS TO AWARD (UP TO THREE) PURCHASE ORDER CONTRACTS. NASA WILL OBTAIN A RESEARCH REPORT AS A PRODUCT. THE TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES WILL REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR TO DEVELOP AND CHARACTERIZE SORBENTS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH PURITY OXYGEN FROM AIR.