Research Projects

In the view of Mars exploration missions and human space missions, Sabatier reaction plays a vital role in order to convert the carbon-dioxide into the useful products. Sabatier reaction involves the methanation reaction of CO2 using hydrogen to produce methane and water. For human spacecraft, CO2 removal from the crew-cabin is accomplished by engaging the catalytic reactor. In the same way, CO2 from the Mars atmosphere shall be converted to the propellant - methane (CH4) as a concept of in-situ resource utilization. In the view of space qualified product development, it requires a compact and light weight catalytic reactor to convert the CO2 into the useful methane and water. One of the viable options shall be the micro-channeled reactor and in order to configure the light weight and compact system which needs a fundamental research on the modeling and simulation of micro reactor for efficient operation of the methanation process.