I recently read an article that said astronauts aboard the ISS had repaired a faulty oxygen generator. Does anyone know how these work?
2006-11-01 14:34:36 · 4 answers · asked by Mike 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_oxygen_generator
2006-11-01 15:05:53 · answer #1 · answered by Otis F 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
It turns out that there is also a chemical way to store oxygen. Many chemicals, including potassium chlorate (KCl03) and sodium chlorate (NaCl03) are rich in oxygen and are willing to give it up as a nearly pure gas when heated. The SCUBA tanks that divers wear might weigh up to 80 pounds (36 kg) but can store only a few hours of air. An oxygen canister weighing half that can provide about four days worth of oxygen. The sodium chlorate is acting something like an oxygen sponge, and you squeeze the oxygen out with heat.
Modern oxygen canisters are an extremely lightweight way to store oxygen. You find oxygen canisters (also known as chemical oxygen generators) on airplanes, submarines and space stations -- places where oxygen can run out unexpectedly. Typically, an oxygen canister contains a sodium chlorate pellet or cylinder and an igniter. The igniter can be triggered by friction or impact. It generates enough heat to start the sodium chlorate reaction, and then the heat of the reaction sustains itself. The sodium chlorate does not burn -- its decomposition just happens to give off lots of heat and lots of oxygen.
The reason why oxygen canisters can cause fires is because they are hot and they generate oxygen. Anything nearby that happens to ignite will burn intensely because of the rich oxygen supply.
These links will help you learn more:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question258.htm
2006-11-01 23:17:10 · answer #2 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The main Russian generator just passes electricity through water to separate it into hydrogen and oxygen. You can do it yourself. Just get some salty water and a 48 volt battery and drop the wires from the battery into the water. The bubbles off one wire are hydrogen and the ones off the other wire are oxygen.
2006-11-02 17:09:12 · answer #3 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes they have two good generators one is Russian and the other is American, the Russian caught fire not too long ago, very dangerous for them, they use water and extract the oxygen from the water, for a more detailed explanation go to 'howstuffwork' and you'll find everything you want to know..âº
2006-11-01 22:40:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋