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NASA NTRS2003

Regenerable Incinerator Exhaust Purification and Trace Contaminant Control System

In this novel approach to air purification, contaminants removed from a process air stream by a high-capacity adsorbent are displaced periodically by a warm, high-humidity, reverse-flow air stream. Displaced contaminants flow into a closed regeneration loop, in which organic compounds are oxidized catalytically and acid gases are removed by a gas- water contactor (which also serves as the source of the water vapor). These features are expected to result in a design that has few expendables and lower energy consumption than alternative regenerable techniques. The joint project between NASA Ames Research Center and Vanderbilt University has completed its third year. Breadboard development continues at NASA Ames, while Vanderbilt has completed most of its adsorption equilibria development. Vanderbilt has completed its fixed-bed apparatus for investigation of dynamic adsorption and desorption processes for trace organic compounds and water vapor, and is continuing its development of the mathematical model describing the column dynamics.

Finn, John E.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Modeling Separate and Combined Atmospheres in BIO-Plex

We modeled BIO-Plex designs with separate or combined atmospheres and then simulated controlling the atmosphere composition. The BIO-Plex is the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, a large regenerative life support test facility under development at NASA Johnson Space Center. Although plants grow better at above-normal carbon dioxide levels, humans can tolerate even higher carbon dioxide levels. Incinerator exhaust has very high levels of carbon dioxide. An elaborate BIO-Plex design would maintain different atmospheres in the crew and plant chambers and isolate the incinerator exhaust in the airlock. This design easily controls the crew and plant carbon dioxide levels but it uses many gas processors, buffers, and controllers. If all the crew's food is grown inside BIO-Plex, all the carbon dioxide required by the plants is supplied by crew respiration and the incineration of plant and food waste. Because the oxygen mass flow must balance in a closed loop, the plants supply all the oxygen required by the crew and the incinerator. Using plants for air revitalization allows using fewer gas processors, buffers, and controllers. In the simplest design, a single combined atmosphere was used for the crew, the plant chamber, and the incinerator. All gas processors, buffers, and controllers were eliminated. The carbon dioxide levels were necessarily similar for the crew and plants. If most of the food is grown, carbon dioxide can be controlled at the desired level by scheduling incineration. An intermediate design uses one atmosphere for the crew and incinerator chambers and a second for the plant chamber. This allows different carbon dioxide levels for the crew and plants. Better control of the atmosphere is obtained by varying the incineration rate. Less gas processing storage and control is needed if more food is grown.

Jones, Harry↗

NASA NTRS2000

Modeling Separate and Combined Atmospheres in BIO-Plex

We modeled BIO-Plex designs with separate or combined atmospheres and then simulated controlling the atmosphere composition. The BIO-Plex is the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, a large regenerative life support test facility under development at NASA Johnson Space Center. Although plants grow better at above-normal carbon dioxide levels, humans can tolerate even higher carbon dioxide levels. incinerator exhaust has very high levels of carbon dioxide. An elaborate BIO-Plex design would maintain different atmospheres in the crew and plant chambers and isolate the incinerator exhaust in the airlock. This design easily controls the crew and plant carbon dioxide levels but it uses many gas processors, buffers, and controllers. If all the crew's food is grown inside BIO-Plex, all the carbon dioxide required by the plants is supplied by crew respiration and the incineration of plant and food waste. Because the oxygen mass flow must balance in a closed loop, the plants supply all the oxygen required by the crew and the incinerator. Using plants for air revitalization allows using fewer gas processors, buffers, and controllers. In the simplest design, a single combined atmosphere was used for the crew, the plant chamber, and the incinerator. All gas processors, buffers, and controllers were eliminated. The carbon dioxide levels were necessarily similar for the crew and plants. If most of the food is grown, carbon dioxide can be controlled at the desired level by scheduling incineration. An intermediate design uses one atmosphere for the crew and incinerator chambers and a second for the plant chamber. This allows different carbon dioxide levels for the crew and plants. Better control of the atmosphere is obtained by varying the incineration rate. Less gas processing, storage, and control is needed if more food is grown.

Jones, Harry↗

NASA NTRS1973

Development of a household waste treatment subsystem, volume 1

The domestic waste treatment subsystem was developed to process the daily liquid and non-metallic solid wastes provided by a family of four people. The subsystem was designed to be connected to the sewer line of a household which contained water conservation features. The system consisted of an evaporation technique to separate liquids from solids, an incineration technique for solids reduction, and a catalytic oxidizer for eliminating noxious gases from evaporation and incineration processes. All wastes were passed through a grinder which masticated the solids and deposited them in a settling tank. The liquids were transferred through a cleanable filter into a holding tank. From here the liquids were sprayed into an evaporator and a spray chamber where evaporation occurred. The resulting vapors were processed by catalytic oxidation. Water and latent energy were recovered in a combination evaporator/condenser heat exchanger. The solids were conveyed into an incinerator and reduced to ash while the incineration gases were passed through the catalytic oxidizer along with the processed water vapor.

Gresko, T. M.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Physical-Chemical Solid Waste Processing for Space Missions at Ames Research Center

As space missions become longer in duration and reach out to more distant locations such as Mars, solids waste processing progresses from storage technologies to reclamation technologies. Current low Earth orbit technologies consist of store-and dispose to space or return to Earth. Fully regenerative technologies recycle wastes. The materials reclaimed from waste can be used to provide the basic materials to support plant growth for food including carbon dioxide, water, and nutrients. Other products can also be reclaimed from waste such as hydrocarbons and activated carbon. This poster describes development at Ames Research Center of a process to make activated carbon from space mission wastes and to make an incineration system that produces clean flue gas. Inedible biomass and feces contain hydrocarbons in a form that can be pyrolyzed and converted to activated carbon. The activated carbon can then be used to clean up contaminants from various other life support systems; in particular, the activated carbon can be used regeneratively to remove NOx from incinerator flue gas. Incinerator flue gas can also be cleaned up by the use of reductive and oxidative catalysts. A catalytic incinerator flue gas cleanup system has been developed at ARC that produces flue gas clean enough (with the exception of carbon dioxide) to meet the Space Minimum Allowable Concentration limits for human exposure.

Fisher, John W.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Modeling of Solid Waste Processing Options in BIO-Plex

BIO-Plex is a ground-based test bed currently under development by NASA for testing technologies and practices that may be utilized in future long-term life support missions. All aspects of such an Advanced Life Support (ALS) System must be considered to confidently construct a reliable system, which will not only allow the crew to survive in harsh environments, but allow the crew time to perform meaningful research. Effective handling of solid wastes is a critical aspect of the system, especially when recovery of resources contained in the waste is required. This is particularly important for ALS Systems configurations that include a Biomass Production Chamber. In these cases, significant amounts of inedible biomass waste may be produced, which can ultimately serve as a repository of necessary resources for sustaining life, notably carbon, water, and plant nutrients. Numerous biological and physicochemical solid waste processing options have been considered. Biological options include composting, aerobic digestion, and anaerobic digestion. Physicochemical options include pyrolysis, SCWO (supercritical water oxidation), various incineration configurations, microwave incineration, magnetically assisted gasification, and low temperature plasma reaction. Modeling of these options is a necessary step to assist in the design process. A previously developed top-level model of BIO-Plex implemented in MATLAB Simulink (r) for the use of systems analysis and design has been adopted for this analysis. Presently, this model only considered incineration for solid waste processing. Present work, reported here, includes the expansion of this model to include a wider array of solid waste processing options selected from the above options, bearing in mind potential, near term solid waste treatment systems. Furthermore, a trade study has also been performed among these solid waste processing technologies in an effort to determine the ideal technology for long-term life support missions.

Rodriguez, Luis F.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Potassium permanganate for mercury vapor environmental control

Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) was evaluated for application in removing mercury vapor from exhaust air systems. The KMnO4 may be used in water solution with a liquid spray scrubber system or as a solid adsorber bed material when impregnated onto a zeolite. Air samples contaminated with as much as 112 mg/cu m of mercury were scrubbed to 0.06mg/cum with the KMnO4-impregnated zeolite (molecular sieve material). The water spray solution of permanganate was also found to be as effective as the impregnated zeolite. The KMnO4-impregnated zeolite was applied as a solid adsorber material to (1) a hardware decontamination system, (2) a model incinerator, and (3) a high vacuum chamber for ion engine testing with mercury as the propellant. A liquid scrubber system was also applied in an incinerator system. Based on the results of these experiments, it is concluded that the use of KMnO4 can be an effective method for controlling noxious mercury vapor.

Kuivinen, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Development of an advanced spacecraft water and waste materials processing system

An Integrated Waste Management-Water System (WM-WS) which uses radioisotopes for thermal energy is described and results of its trial in a 4-man, 180 day simulated space mission are presented. It collects urine, feces, trash, and wash water in zero gravity, processes the wastes to a common evaporator, distills and catalytically purifies the water, and separates and incinerates the solid residues using little oxygen and no chemical additives or expendable filters. Technical details on all subsystems are given along with performance specifications. Data on recovered water and heat loss obtained in test trials are presented. The closed loop incinerator and other projects underway to increase system efficiency and capacity are discussed.

Murray, R. W.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Applications of aerospace technology in biology and medicine

Utilization of NASA technology and its application to medicine is discussed. The introduction of new or improved commercially available medical products and incorporation of aerospace technology is outlined. A biopolar donor-recipient model of medical technology transfer is presented to provide a basis for the methodology. The methodology is designed to: (1) identify medical problems and NASA technology that, in combination, constitute opportunities for successful medical products; (2) obtain the early participation of industry in the transfer process; and (3) obtain acceptance by the medical community of new medical products based on NASA technology. Two commercial transfers were completed: the ocular screening device, a system for quick detection of vision problems in preschool children, and Porta-Fib III, a hospital monitoring unit. Two institutional transfers were completed: implant materials testing, the application of NASA fracture control technology to improve reliability of metallic prostheses, and incinerator monitoring, a quadrupole mass spectrometer to monitor combustion products of municipal incinerators. Mobility aids for the blind and ultrasound diagnosis of burn depth are also studied.

Rouse, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Investigating pyrolysis/incineration as a method of resource recovery from solid waste

Pyrolysis/incineration (P/I) is a physicochemical method for the generation of recoverable resources from solid waste materials such as inedible plant biomass (IPB), paper, plastics, cardboard, etc. P/I permits the collection of numerous gases with a minimal amount of solid residue. Pyrolysis, also known as starved air incineration, is usually conducted at relatively high temperatures (greater than 500 deg C) in the absence of oxygen. Incineration is conducted at lower temperatures in the presence of oxygen. The primary purpose of this study was to design, construct, and test a model P/I. The system design includes safety requirements for temperature and pressure. The objectives of this study were: (1) to design and construct a P/I system for incorporation with the Hybrid Regenerative Water Recovery System; (2) to initiate testing of the P/I system; (3) to collect and analyze P/I system data; (4) to consider test variables; and (5) to determine the feasibility of P/I as an effective method of resource recovery. A P/I system for the recovery of reuseable resources from solid waste materials was designed, constructed, and tested. Since a large amount of inedible plant biomass (IPB) will be generated in a space-based habitat on the lunar surface and Mars, IPB was the primary waste material tested in the system. Analysis of the effluent gases was performed to determine which gases could be used in a life support system.

Robertson, Bobby J.↗

NASA NTRS1997

NASA Microgravity Combustion Science Program

Combustion is a key element of many critical technologies used by contemporary society. For example, electric power production, home heating, surface and air transportation, space propulsion, and materials synthesis all utilize combustion as a source of energy. Yet, although combustion technology is vital to our standard of living, it poses great challenges to maintaining a habitable environment. For example, pollutants, atmospheric change and global warming, unwanted fires and explosions, and the incineration of hazardous wastes are major problem areas which would benefit from improved understanding of combustion. Effects of gravitational forces impede combustion studies more than most other areas of science since combustion involves production of high-temperature gases whose low density results in buoyant motion, vastly complicating the execution and interpretation of experiments. Effects of buoyancy are so ubiquitous that their enormous negative impact on the rational development of combustion science is generally not recognized. Buoyant motion also triggers the onset of turbulence, yielding complicating unsteady effects. Finally, gravity forces cause particles and drops to settle, inhibiting deconvoluted studies of heterogeneous flames important to furnace, incineration and power generation technologies. Thus, effects of buoyancy have seriously limited our capabilities to carry out 'clean' experiments needed for fundamental understanding of flame phenomena. Combustion scientists can use microgravity to simplify the study of many combustion processes, allowing fresh insights into important problems via a deeper understanding of elemental phenomena also found in Earth-based combustion processes and to additionally provide valuable information concerning how fires behave in microgravity and how fire safety on spacecraft can be enhanced.

King, Merrill K.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Microgravity and Hypogravity Compatible Methods for the Destruction of Solid Wastes by Magnetically Assisted Gasification

This report summarizes a three-year collaborative effort between researchers at UMPQUA Research Company (URC) and the Chemical Engineering Department at Oregon State University (OSU). The Magnetically Assisted Gasification (MAG) concept was originally conceived as a microgravity and hypogravity compatible means for the decomposition of solid waste materials generated aboard spacecraft, lunar and planetary habitations, and for the recovery of potentially valuable resources. While a number of methods such as supercritical water oxidation (SCW0), fluidized bed incineration, pyrolysis , composting and related biological processes have been demonstrated for the decomposition of solid wastes, none of these methods are particularly well- suited for employment under microgravity or hypogravity conditions. For example, fluidized bed incineration relies upon a balance between drag forces which the flowing gas stream exerts upon the fluidization particles and the opposing force of gravity. In the absence of gravity, conventional fluidization cannot take place. Hypogravity operation can also be problematic for conventional fluidized bed reactors, because the various factors which govern fluidization phenomena do not all scale linearly with gravity. For this reason it may be difficult to design and test fluidized bed reactors in lg, which are intended to operate under different gravitational conditions. However, fluidization can be achieved in microgravity (and hypogravity) if a suitable replacement force to counteract the forces between fluid and particles can be found. Possible alternatives include: centripetal force, electric fields, or magnetic fields. Of these, magnetic forces created by the action of magnetic fields and magnetic field gradients upon ferromagnetic media offer the most practical approach. The goal of this URC-OSU collaborative effort was to develop magnetic hardware and methods to control the degree of fluidization (or conversely consolidation) of granular ferromagnetic media and to employ these innovations in sequential filtration and fluidized bed processes for the segregation and decomposition of solid waste materials, and for the concentration and collection of inorganic residue (ash). This required the development of numerous enabling technologies and tools.

Atwater, James E.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Non-Thermal Removal of Gaseous Pollutants

The removal of fluorine based exhaust gases such as CFC's, PFC's, NF3, and SF6 used for plasma etching of and deposition on semi-conductors is a subject of increasing interest because of safety, air pollution, and global warming issues. Conventional treatment methods for removing exhaust gas pollutants are wet scrubbing, carbon and resin adsorption, catalytic oxidation, and thermal incineration. However, there are drawbacks associated with each of these methods which include difficulties in implementation, problems with the disposal of solid and liquid pollutant waste, large water and fuel consumption, and additional pollutants such as NOx emissions which are generated in thermal incineration processes.

exhaust gases↗

NASA NTRS2013

Trash to Gas: Converting Space Waste into Useful Supply Products

The cost of sending mass into space with current propulsion technology is very expensive, making every item a crucial element of the space mission. It is essential that all materials be used to their fullest potential. Items like food, packaging, clothing, paper towels, gloves, etc., normally become trash and take up space after use. These waste materials are currently either burned up upon reentry in earth's atmosphere or sent on cargo return vehicles back to earth: a very wasteful method. The purpose of this project was to utilize these materials and create useful products like water and methane gas, which is used for rocket fuel, to further supply a deep space mission. The system used was a thermal degradation reactor with the configuration of a down-draft gasifier. The reactor was loaded with approximately 100g of trash simulant and heated with two external ceramic heaters with separate temperature control in order to create pyrolysis and gasification in one zone and incineration iri a second zone simultaneously. Trash was loaded into the top half of the reactor to undergo pyrolysis while the downdraft gas experienced gasification or incineration to treat tars and maximize the production of carbon dioxide. Minor products included carbon monoxide, methane, and other hydrocarbons. The carbon dioxide produced can be sent to a Sabatier reactor to convert the gas into methane, which can be used as rocket propellant. In order to maximize the carbon dioxide and useful gases produced, and minimize the unwanted tars and leftover ashen material, multiple experiments were performed with altered parameters such as differing temperatures, flow rates, and location of inlet air flow. According to the data received from these experiments, the process will be further scaled up and optimized to ultimately create a system that reduces trash buildup while at the same time providing enough useful gases to potentially fill a methane tank that could fuel a lunar ascent vehicle or other deep space mission.

Tsoras, Alexandra↗

NASA NTRS2013

Trash-to-Gas: Using Waste Products to Minimize Logistical Mass During Long Duration Space Missions

Just as waste-to-energy processes utilizing municipal landftll and biomass wastes are finding increased terrestrial uses, the Trash-to-Gas (TtG) project seeks to convert waste generated during spaceflight into high value commodities. These include methane for propulsion and water for life support in addition to a variety of other gasses. TtG is part of the Logistic Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) project under the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Program. The LRR project will enable a largely mission-independent approach to minimize logistics contributions to total mission architecture mass. LRR includes technologies that reduce the amount of consumables that need to be sent to space, repurpose items sent to space, or convert wastes to commodities. Currently, waste generated on the International Space Station is stored inside a logistic module which is de-orbited into Earth's atmosphere for destruction. The waste consists of food packaging, food, clothing and other items. This paper will discuss current results on incineration as a waste processing method. Incineration is part of a two step process to produce methane from waste: first the waste is converted to carbon oxides; second, the carbon oxides are fed to a Sabatier reactor where they are converted to methane. The quantities of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and water were measured under the different thermal degradation conditions. The overall carbon conversion efficiency and water recovery are discussed.

Hintze, Paul. E.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Trash-to-Gas: Using Waste Products to Minimize Logistical Mass During Long Duration Space Missions

Hintze, Paul E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Explore Moon to Mars

OSCAR Overview: What? Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor. Why? Current methods of space waste management are comprehensively unsustainable • Convert trash and human waste into useful gases, enabling long duration human exploration of deep space. Confirm the operability of a space waste conversion reactor in microgravity How? Incineration and steam reforming. Reactor heats (600 °C) the trash under pressure (40 psia) to incinerate it. Suborbital flight sequence trash conversion: 60-70%. Long duration trash conversion: up to 90%.

Morgan A Benson↗

NASA NTRS2003

Method for the control of NOx emissions in long-range space travel

The wheat straw, an inedible biomass that can be continuously produced in a space vehicle has been used to produce activated carbon for effective control of NOx emissions from the incineration of wastes. The optimal carbonization temperature of wheat straw was found to be around 600 degrees C when a burnoff of 67% was observed. The BET surface area of the activated carbon produced from the wheat straw reached as high as 300 m2/g. The presence of oxygen in flue gas is essential for effective adsorption of NO by activated carbon. On the contrary, water vapor inhibits the adsorption efficiency of NO. Consequently, water vapor in flue gas should be removed by drying agents before adsorption to ensure high NO adsorption efficiency. All of the NO in the flue gas was removed for more than 2 h by the activated carbons when 10% oxygen was present and the ratio of carbon weight to the flue gas flow rate (W/F) was 30 g min/L, with a contact time of 10.2 s. All of NO was reduced to N2 by the activated carbon at 450 degrees C with a W/F ratio of 15 g min/L and a contact time of 5.1 s. Reduction of the adsorbed NO also regenerated the activated carbon, and the regenerated activated carbon exhibited an improved NO adsorption efficiency. However, the reduction of the adsorbed NO resulted in a loss of carbon which was determined to be about 0.99% of the activated carbon per cycle of regeneration. The sufficiency of the amount of wheat straw in providing the activated carbon based on a six-person crew, such as the mission planned for Mars, has been determined. This novel approach for the control of NOx emissions is sustainable in a closed system such as the case in space travel. It is simple to operate and is functional under microgravity environment.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗