The factors influencing the formation of Li2CO3 from LiOH and CO2

LiOH is used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in three environmental control systems of the Shuttle program, and the investigation of the performance dependent parameters for the CO2 reaction with LiOH is reported. Emphasis is placed on LiOH quality acceptance criteria and on identifiying the relationships between the reaction rate and the following independent parameters: temperature, CO2 partial pressure (PP), H2O concentration in the solid, amount of remaining LiOH and the porosity of the LiOH pellets. Results showed that the reaction rate is proportional to the CO2 PP for PP at least as high as 40 mm Hg (5330 N/sq m). It is also noted that a significant difference in the reactivity of wet and dry LiOH was not detected.