Atmospheric Condensate Recovery
Cold-Plate Condenser Recovering Humidity from Ark Atmosphere
The atmospheric condensate recovery system is an 8-kilogram cold-plate condenser that extracts moisture from habitat air and life-support exhaust, converting humidity into liquid water for closed-loop reclamation. Operating at 20 watts, the unit chills gas streams below 10 °C across an antimicrobial copper plate, using a PTFE demister and multi-stage condensation to capture 2 kilograms of water per day at over 95 percent efficiency. On the Moon, phase-change separation must operate reliably under fractional 1/6 g gravity for droplet drainage, while the assembly relies on integration with external thermal control systems to maintain chilling and minimize costly water resupply.
Cold-plate condenser recovering humidity from the Ark atmosphere (CO2 scrubbers, life-support exhaust) into liquid water for reprocessing.
Purpose
Cold-plate condenser recovering humidity from the Ark atmosphere (CO2 scrubbers, life-support exhaust) into liquid water for reprocessing.
Context
Child of L2-WTR-RECL in L1-WTR water processing chain
Principles
- ▸Cold plate at <10 C condenses water vapor from gas stream
- ▸Gravity drainage collects condensate (1/6 g still works)
- ▸Demister captures aerosol droplets
- ▸Multi-stage for >95% recovery
- ▸Antimicrobial copper surfaces minimise biofilm
Typical implementations
- ▸ISS Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) heritage
- ▸Industrial dehumidifiers (terrestrial)
- ▸Mars rover atmospheric water harvesters (R&D)
Lunar considerations
- ▸Closed-loop preservation reduces water resupply needs
- ▸Coupled to L1-TCS for cold-plate cooling
- ▸Long-life copper antimicrobial coating
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Cold-plate condenser recovering humidity from the Ark atmosphere (CO2 scrubbers, life-support exhaust) into liquid water for reprocessing. |
| recovery efficiency percent | 95 |
| throughput kg per day | 2 |
Physical
| mass kg | 8 |
| materials | Cu cold plate, 316L SS housing, PTFE demister |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 20 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 20 |
| mtbf hours | 100000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- Recovered water to reprocessing
Requires
- Humid atmosphere from habitat
- Cold plate cooling
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Atmospheric Condensate Recovery" (L3-WTR-RECL-COND). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-WTR-RECL-COND
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.