NASA Parachute Refurbishment Facility Dragonfly Water Treatment Systems Kennedy Space Center , Florida

Part of the NASA Space Shuttle program includes the retrieving and refurbishing of components for reuse.  One such component is the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) parachutes. The parachutes deploy during descent of the SRB’s and help the booster land in the ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The boosters and other components are retrieved by Special Ocean-Going Vessels and returned to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) near Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for processing. This effort includes processing the parachutes, which are the largest in the world. Then, they are transported to a specialized facility that will clean, inspect, repair, and repack the parachutes to support following missions. An important step in the process is washing the parachutes to remove salts from the ocean as well as algae and other contaminants.

The Parachute Refurbishment Facility is located within the confines of KSC, in an area rich with wildlife and wetlands. As a result, the water used to wash and rinse the parachutes can not be discharged into the environment at the facility. United Space Boosters, Inc. (USBI) a division of Pratt and Whitney contracted with AJT & Associates, Inc. (AJT) to research and recommend a method of cleaning or recycling the water. One of the options was to install a long distance connection to the sewage treatment facility. Due to time and cost consideration, the recycle and reuse option was recommended.

AJT embarked in detailed assessment of existing technologies in the market at the time (Circa 1994).  Many of the requirements of the parachutes demanded very high levels of purity of the water. At the conclusion of the study, AJT recommended a water treatment system concept that eventually allowed the Space Program to reuse the water on the parachutes.

Solution: To utilize innovative methods of dissolving ozone into the wastewater of the Parachute Refurbishment Facility (PRF) allowing the wastewater to be treated and reused. Another treatment step included a special filter to remove silicone without fouling. Research was conducted concerning the possibility of using ozonated water in the actual laundering of the parachutes. While ozone was not allowed in contact cleaning of the parachutes, ozone was employed in treating the wastewater for reuse. The final step from AJT was to deliver a complete design to NASA for construction.

Results: The final project allowed the 30,000 gallons of water used to wash the parachutes to be treated and reused in follow-on launches. The treatment and reuse was demonstrated and successfully employed allowing the facility at its present location to continue operations. Additionally, the testing prompted by this project led to the discovery of using the TecH2Ozoneä system in a multitude of applications, such as wastewater and commercial laundry applications.

NASA has recognized AJT & Associates, Inc. and the engineering and scientific efforts achieved during the development and implementation of this project as a NASA Spin-Off project.

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