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Water and sewage treatment systems are presented with concentration on the filtration of water. Equipment is described for organic removal, solids removal, nutrient removal, inorganic removal, and disinfection of the water. Such things as aseline hardware, additional piping connections, waste disposal, and costs involved are also reported.
The applicability of plant-based life support systems has traditionally suffered from the limitations imposed by the high energy demand of controlled environment growth chambers. Theme types of systems are typically less than 2% efficient at converting electrical energy into biomass. The remaining 98% of supplied energy is converted to thermal energy. Traditionally this thermal energy is discharged to the ambient environment as waste heat. This paper describes an energy efficient plant-based life support system which has been designed for use at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. At the South Pole energy is not lost to the environment. What is lost is the ability to extract useful work from it. The CELSS Antarctic Analog Program (CAAP) has developed a system which is designed to extract useful work from the waste thermal energy generated from plant growth lighting systems. In the CAAP system this energy is used to purify Station Sewage.
During the first six month period, the RECON (Regenerative Concepts Group) team collected reference material, made visits to consult with other researchers, and invited distinguished visitors to speak on the status of closed life support activities. A decision was made to develop the data base and modeling such that artificial intelligence (AI) methods could be used to manipulate data and examine concept alternatives. Six discrete tasks and a project schedule were outlined for the first year. The first two tasks have been essentially completed and have resulted in a sample set of assumptions for general use in defining candidate systems and for the specification of closed system characteristics. To model a closed environment, decisions were necessary to establish the amounts of food, air, water and waste products. Although recognized that data would eventually be normalized on the basis of a single human, the amount of data in existence for four person crews led to the decision to use this as a baseline. Information on existing concepts was collected from NASA sources, from industry, and libraries. Concept modeling was begun, hardware and software obtained, technical tasks identified and experimental work initiated.
An Extraction, Scrub, and Strip (ESS) test was performed on a sample from Tank-202. The purpose of testing this sample is to determine if the solvent is displaying the correct extraction and stripping behavior with cesium. The ESS test showed acceptable performance of the solvent for extraction, scrub, and strip operations. The extraction D(Cs) measured 14.2, exceeding the required value of 8. This value is consistent with results from previous ESS tests using similar solvent formulations. Similarly, the strip cesium distribution ratios fell within acceptable ranges.
To identify the role of waste composition and sediment interactions in controlling Pu and Am mobility in contaminated sediments at Hanford, a legacy nuclear site, Pu and Am concentrations in solutions equilibrated with contaminated sediments from beneath the 216-Z-9 (Z-9) Trench were compared to the solubilities of PuO 2 materials, synthesized by methods representative of the disposed wastes, in the absence of sediments. Furthermore, this work shows that the solubilities of PuO 2 materials synthesized by different methods, and with varying particle sizes, agree with PuO 2 (am,hyd), although dissolution kinetics differed between materials. According to saturation index (SI) calculations, PuO 2 (am,hyd) is likely also controlling Pu release from sediments under conditions where phosphate concentrations are low. However, both Pu-phosphate and Am-phosphate phases, identified in SI calculations and by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, play roles in controlling release in low pH, high phosphate, shallow sediments just below the Z-9 Trench. The elevated phosphate is likely due to decomposition of tributyl phosphate from waste solutions over time. Sediments from deeper in the subsurface beneath the Z-9 Trench are less acidic and contain less phosphate, with Pu solubility likely controlled by PuO 2 (am,hyd) that precipitated following neutralization of the acidic waste stream. Controls on Am concentrations in deeper sediments are more complex and potentially involve sediment adsorption and/or release from Pu (1-x) Am x O 2 following Am in-growth. The concentrations of both Pu and Am were elevated in the colloidal fraction associated with shallow sediments, but not in PuO 2 experiments, suggesting the presence of Pu/Am pseudocolloids (e.g., Pu/Am associated with mineral colloids). However, Pu and Am association with the colloidal size fraction was not observed in deeper sediments, suggesting transport of Pu and Am to these depths beneath the Z-9 Trench was not due to colloidal transport.
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The wet oxidation of sewage sludge during space flight was studied for water and gas recovery, and the elimination of overboard venting. The components of the system are described. Slurry and oxygen supply modules were fabricated and tested. Recommendations for redesign of the equipment are included.
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Report prepared for NDEP
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Report prepared for NDEP
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