Browsing by Author "Link, Bruce"
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Item ISS Waste Water Pretreatment Via DNA Pattern Picofilter Using Inorganic Brine Simulant(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Franco, Carolina; Lunn, Griffin; Snyder, Sarah; Link, Bruce; Melendez, Orlando; Dominguez, JesusAstronauts in the International Space Station need as much water as they can access, whether it comes from people's breath, sweat or urine, recycled shower water or from hand-washing. It is of vital importance that any type of water gets recycled and filtrated through different methods so it can be re-used. Recently, a company called Cerahelix, Inc. offered a ceramic tubular membrane element that uses DNA strands as a pattern in a sol-gel process that allows the sintered product to have a pore size in the picometer scale and claims to achieve ten times higher purity than other commercially available ceramic filters. This should allow higher purities and yields at reduced energy costs and theoretically allow near total dewatering of the reject stream and 80%+ polyvalent ion removal. A triplicate set of tests at two different pHs were performed with Cerahelix filters using an inorganic brine simulant in order to test and evaluate the efficiency of its PicoHelixTM membrane and determine feasibility for spacecraft and similar wastewater pretreatment processes. Several ions were studied but emphasis was placed on the polyvalent ions, SO42-, PO43-, Mg2+, and Ca2+; these ions should be rejected almost entirely from the feed solution and, therefore, the masses for the corresponding ions would be as close to zero as the feed permeates through the filter. Initial test results show that at a pH of 4.2, permeation of the polyvalent ions vary from 59% to 74% and at pH of 8.0 permeates vary from 72% to 87%, a very small amount was retained in the reject. Extended Nernst Planck (ENP) approach that describes the mass transfer process in the pico-filtration membranes was used to build a model and be able to explain the experimental outcome.Item Plasma Activated Water: A Technology for Acid Generation and Space Crop Production(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Gott, Ryan; Engeling, Kenneth; Olson, Joel; Tessema, Misle; Fischer, Jason; Franco, Carolina; Link, Bruce; Johnson, ChristinaAs humanity returns to the moon and onward to Mars, sustainable space travel becomes essential for cost and independence from Earth. Astronaut activities in low Earth orbit resupply consumable materials and can require alternative technologies if transportation of chemicals is deemed hazardous. Plasma technology and applications are able to generate commodities that assist in achieving Earth independence. Plasma interaction with water generates acid in-situ using on-board resources of electricity and breathable air without the need for large infrastructure. At Kennedy Space Center, researchers have shown that plasma is able to produce nitric acid, and therefore nitrates, in a plant-usable form in water. In this report, the team presents results on acid generation in g/kW-hr as well as provides results on plasma activated water for plant growth assistance. Plasma was generated utilizing DC, AC, and pulsed power supplies in order to determine optimizing parameters for generation of this useful commodity.Item Plasma Assisted Acid Leaching of Inedible Biomass for Nutrient Recovery(51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2022) Engeling, Kenneth; Gott, Ryan; Lunn, Griffin; Franco, Carolina; Tessema, Misle; Link, BruceSustaining a human presence on the moon, Mars or deep space will require closing loops on many life support systems. Some form of agriculture will be required because plants produce the vitamins, antioxidants, and essential oils in our diets that degrade over time in stored foods. In addition, they provide dietary fiber, restore air, and purify water. It is estimated that 93 Kg of plant nutrients are required to support one crew member per year. Growing plants will require recycling nutrients trapped in inedible vegetation. Researchers at Kennedy Space Center have investigated the use of a thermal plasma with various carrier gases to thermally degrade inedible plant biomass for nutrient recovery. Previous work demonstrated a thermally degrading environment such as a muffle furnace improved nutrient recovery from inedible biomass prior to an acid leaching process. However, a muffle furnace is an inefficient process. We have explored the use of a small scale, thermal plasma for degradation of pellets to enhance the breakdown of plant stems, leaves and debris to further close the nutrient loop. Plasma carrier gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and air were used to explore variations in recovery and potential chemical by-products. Plasma processed inedible biomass was added to varying concentrations of acid solution for leaching of nutrients (e.g. potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus) for reuse in the crop production cycle. We also examine total nitrogen recovery. Results are presented showing the impact of plasma processing prior to acid leaching on recovery of plant nutrients.