UMPQUA RESEARCH COMPANY — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: H3

Description

Solid wastes generated during long-duration manned missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) contain valuable resources that must be recovered and reused to reduce the resupply burden or be jettisoned to reduce fuel requirements.nbsp; It is vital that water be reclaimed from metabolic wastes since the cost of resupply becomes prohibitively expensive for long duration missions.nbsp; Therefore, practical means of recycling wastes are needed.nbsp; Feces contains between 65 and 85% water that can be reclaimed.nbsp; The remaining 15-35% solids is composed of mixed organic compounds that must be dried for bio stabilization. nbsp;Umpqua Research Company (UMPQUA) proposes an innovative Graded Temperature Fecal Dryer-Densifier (GTFD-D) for the safe and efficient reclamation of water from feces.nbsp; In particular, we propose to collect the fecal bolus in a flexible cylindrical silicone container.nbsp; The container is sealed with a magnetic lid.nbsp; The silicone container is then transported to the GTFD-D where the lid is automatically removed.nbsp; Pressure on the outside of the silicone cylinder forces the feces through a set of reciprocating perforated plates and then down through heated rectangular channels for drying and densification.nbsp; The channels are heated in a graded fashion to regulate the removal of water and densification of the feces in the channel.nbsp; Water is collected on a cooled porous surface. This process prevents the formation of particulates during the production of densified solid feces.nbsp; The silicone cylinder is then shifted to the cleaning station where water from the condenser is used to clean the surface of the silicone cylinder.nbsp; The dirty water is directed back to the drying channels.nbsp; The cylinder is then sterilized before reuse.nbsp; The GTFD-D will efficiently recover water from feces leaving a densified, bio inactive solid lowering the Equivalent System Mass (ESM) for life support supplies.