Advanced Life Support RESEARCH

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Advanced Life Support RESEARCH

• Determine a way that people can travel to and
  survive on Mars
• Seek to use Mars resources to augment
  life-sustaining systems
• Gain new knowledge that can also be used in earth
  based applications

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Acronyms pertaining to life support

• CELSS controlled ecological life-support
  system
• ALS advanced life support
• ELS exploration life support
• RLS regenerative life support
• BLSS bioregenerative life support system

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Regenerative Life Support Techniques

• Our current picnic approach is not feasible for
  extended duration missions (Mars base)
• Regeneration of life support elements is necessary

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A Need to Adapt to Hostile Space Environments
Earth
Mars
Distance from Sun 141 million miles Diurnal
Period 24.7 hours Year length
687 days Atmosphere Carbon
Dioxide Temperature Night -1780 F Seasons
Yes
Distance from Sun 92 million miles Diurnal
Period 24 hours Year length
365 days Atmosphere
Nitrogen/Oxygen Temperature Night 610
F Seasons Yes
Time from Earth 7.5 months
Length of stay 15 months
Return to Earth 8 months
Julia Hains-Allen Purdue
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Factors in the Space Flight Environment
CELSS / ALS Testing with Plants

• High Radiation
• Solar Wind, Solar Storms, Cosmic Rays
• Microbial Ecology
• Community Stability, Pathogens
• Closed Atmospheric Issues
• Volatile Organic Compounds
• Waste Materials
• Bioreactors, Composting, Nutrient Recycling

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Unreliability of Solar Radiation on Mars
Photo Credit NASA/JPL Spirit
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Human Life Requirements

• O2 delivery and CO2 removal
• Food intake - ionic balance
• Pressure
• Thermal regulation must lose heat
• Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation
• Electromagnetic exposure
• Vibration
• Noise
• Gravitational effects
• Human stimulation
• Water intake/removal (urine)
• Solids removal (feces)
• Lack of toxins biological or non-biological

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Advanced Life Support
Food Production -Food Processing -Food
Storage -Food Preparation
Atmosphere Revitalization -CO2 Removal -CO2
Reduction -Trace Contaminant Control -Microorganis
m Control
Plant Production -Seeding -Environmental
Control -Cultural System -Harvesting
Atmosphere Control and Supply -Monitoring -Control
-Storage -Pressure Control
Waste Management -Metabolic Waste
Management -Other Solid Waste -Liquid and Gaseous
Waste
Temperature and Humidity Control -Temperature
Control -Humidity Control -Ventilation -Equipment
Cooling
Water Recovery and Management -Storage and
Distribution -Recovery -Quality Monitoring
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Space Exploration InitiativePresident Bush
January 14, 2004
Initial Test of CEV
CEV Operational
Return Shuttle To Safe Flight
Initiate Lunar Robotic Missions Prepare For
Humans
Conduct First Lunar Extended Human Expedition
Complete ISS Retire Shuttle
Mars Mission
2005
2008
2010
2015
2020
2030
Daniel J. Barta, Deputy Manager , Advanced Life
Support Office
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Role of Bioregenerative Components for Future
Missions
Short Durations Longer Durations
Autonomous (early missions)
Colonies
Stowage and Physico-Chemical
Bioregenerative
Plant Growing Area
1-5 m 2 total 10-25 m 2 / person
50 m 2 / person
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NASA Testing with Plants for Life Support
1980
1990
2000
CELSS Program
ALS Program
MIR Wheat Studies
Sweetpotato / Peanut (Tuskegee)
Universities
Potato (Wisconsin)
STS-73 Potato Leaves
Soybean (NC State)
New Jersey NSCORT
N-Nutrition (UC Davis)
ALS NSCORT
Lettuce (Purdue)
ISS Wheat
ARC
Large, Closed System NFT Lighting Waste
Recycling Salad spp.
NASA Centers
KSC
Solid Media Pressure Human / Integration
JSC
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Closed-loop life support requires
bioregenerative and physico-chemical processes
working together in the same system for

• Crew Health and Safety
• Sustainability
• Affordability

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Essential to generate renewable resources in
closed-loop life-support systems

• Minimizes cost of transit
• Earth to Mars
• Rescue not feasible
• Launch window once / 27 months
• Technology Development must include a Reduction
  of
• Mass
• Volume
• Power
• Thermal
• Crew time
• to minimize costs of operation

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Integrated RLSS
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Loop-Closure Issues for Space Regenerative Life
Support

• System must be closed with respect to
• mass but open with respect to energy
• Need bio-process technologies to create renewable
  resources from bio-wastes
• Should minimize equivalent system mass (ESM) for
  each bioprocess
• Hazards should be avoided in closed system

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Mass Conversion Inputs and Outputs
Time
Volume
Thermal
Mass
Power
Candidate Technology or Principle (TRL 1-4)
Process Mass In CO2 Harvest Solid Waste Waste
Water Impure Air
Process Mass Out CH2O Food CO2, H2O Clean
Water Pure Air
Energy Mass Byproducts
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Systems Studiesand Modeling

• Development of a Metric
• Information Flow Analysis
• Top Level Modeling of an ALS System
• Crop Modeling for Multiple Crop Production

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Equivalent System Mass (ESM)
- M, V, P, C and CT are the mass, volume, power,
cooling and crewtime needs, respectively, of the
system of interest. - Veq, Peq, Ceq, and CTeq
are the volume, power, cooling and crewtime mass
equivalency factors, respectively per the mission
segment of interest.(Used to convert the non-mass
parameters (V, P, C and CT) to mass
equivalencies. - D is mission segment duration.
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Metric Process Overview

• The Metric compares
• the equivalent system mass (ESM) of current
  technology,
• represented by International Space Station (ISS)
  environmental control and life support system
  (ECLSS) hardware,
• to the ESM of advanced technology,
• represented by advanced life support (ALS)
  hardware.
• Metric ESMISS / ESMALS
• ALS is more efficient than ISS when Metric gt 1
• As ALS becomes more efficient, Metric increases

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Results
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Plants are Required for Loop Closure

• PC technologies cannot generate food
• Only plants can generate edible biomass
• Air revitalization and water purification are
  defaults of crop production
• Packaged food has shelf-life limitations
• Resupply costs from Earth
• 70K/lb for the moon
• 140K/lb for Mars

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Constraints for Crop Production in
Space(Economics of Life Support)

• Energy Requirements
• System Mass
• System Volume
• Crew Time
• System Reliability

These apply for all life support technologies
For Plants, Lighting Dominates These Costs !
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Continuing Challenges

• Improved Horticultural Approaches
• Mechanization / Automation
• More Complete Environmental Response Data
• Define Optimal and Sub-Optimal Conditions
• Crop Growth Models
• Systems Analysis / Trade Studies
• Equivalent System Mass
• Additional Crop Species
• Better Adapted Cultivars
• Dwarf, High Harvest Index, Nutritional Value
• Engineer Cultivars to Fit System Constraints
• Improved Lighting Systems
• More Efficient Electric Lamps and/or Solar
  Collectors
• Improved Light Interception by Crops
• Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency
• Food / Nutritional Aspects of CE-Grown Crops
• Waste Management, Recycling
• Stirred Tank Reactors, Composting, Aquaculture

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Adequate performance of plants in space habitats
will require

• Control of the plant-growth environment.
• Adequate supply of power / energy for lighting.
• Adaptation of plants to limiting space-unique
  conditions that cant be controlled or altered.

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Atmospheric Pressures for Plants in
SpaceAdvantages for Low Pressures

• Reduced Structural Mass
• Reduced Gas Leakage (and Resupply)
• Wider Selection for Transparent Materials

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Need to genetically adapt space crops to tolerate
conditions of

• Mass closure
• Ethylene gas
• Carbon dioxide
• Trace contaminants
• Hypogravity
• Gravity-specific effects
• Impaired convection
• Hypobaric pressures
• Pressure-specific effects
• Hypoxia
• Ionizing radiation
• Solar particle events
• Cosmic galactic radiation

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Need to adapt space crops genetically to

• Improve harvest index
• Increase proportion of edible biomass
• Improve nutritional quality
• Achieve amino acid balance of protein
• Enhance unsaturated oil content
• Eliminate anti-metabolites
• Improve bioavailability of nutrients

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A Regenerative Life Support mission - Food System

• Start with the premise that RLS missions will
  have packaged food during transport and foods
  processed from the RLS crops for planetary stay.
• Compare the packaged food scenario with foods
  processed from RLS crops

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Unknowns and Gray Areas

• Supply chain - Salt, sugar, flavors, spices and
  other vital ingredients will need to be
  transported?
• Food safety and quality - What effects will
  radiation have on effectiveness of natural
  antioxidants? Can they be managed with added
  antioxidants
• Product development - How can we assure
  acceptable quality of processed foods? Varieties
  grown in space vs those produced on earth?
• Training of astronauts in food technology ? Will
  they have the time to manufacture ingredients and
  cook food? Have we thought about time and
  manpower requirements?

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Exploratory new technologies

• Improved packaging and processing technology that
  results in a reduction of weight while enhancing
  the benefits.
• Commercial technology exists but has not been
  adapted for use in a space environment and its
  associated limitations.
• Novel innovations (nano-composite, bio-degradable
  packaging material multi-purpose processing
  equipment, etc.) are required to make these
  modifications in existing equipment.
• Innovative product development with available
  ingredients and processes to produce nutritious,
  safe and appealing foods.
• Current initiatives have been sporadic but have
  shown the path for how it can be done. e.g..
  Space pizza.
• Improved health and disease prevention through
  foods.
• Rapidly emerging area of food and health science
  that needs to be positively exploited due to its
  importance in a closed loop.

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Gaps in food technology

• Food processing equipment optimization for light
  weight and minimum energy use
• Food processing automation and control to
  minimize the time spent by astronauts on food
  preparation
• New edible and biodegradable functional packaging
  materials using nanotechnology
• Packaging materials as a countermeasure for
  radiation based spoilage
• RFID technology for logistics , quality and
  safety monitoring
• Fast microbial counting technologies using
  biochips to ensure food safety
• Role of radiation on food preservation and
  protective measures
• More Structure/function understanding for ALS
  plants
• Creating accurate and comprehensive databases of
  space food processing data
• System analyses and design of integrated space
  food processing systems better integration of
  food processing with regenerative life support
  technology
• Creating computerized designs and virtual
  simulation of food processing to increase the
  rate of optimized food processing discovery
• Minimization of variability of crop to crop
  variation of nutritional values
• Nutragenomics in space
• Metabolomics in space - under prolonged space
  conditions will humans metabolize food the same
  way they do on earth?
• Internationalize food technology
• Food preparation ( microwave, food heating, food
  freezing, refrigeration )
• Other
• Work closely with the Department of Defenses
  Advanced Food technology programs ( Natick )
• Research and technology development funding
  needed.

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ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT - WASTE MANAGEMENT
RESOURCE RECOVERY

• Waste management and resource recycling are at
  the very center of life support on Earth, but
  play varying roles in space travel and
  colonization.
• Open vs. Closed Systems
• What is the difference between a resource and a
  waste?

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Background - ALS Waste Management

• Previous/current missions
• Management vs. treatment
• Collection, storage, and return to Earth
• No resource recovery
• Low level of integration

• Future missions
• Significant processing required (stabilization)
• Long term storage
• Significant resource recovery (H2O, CO2, Plant
  nutrients)
• High level of integration

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Resource Recovery Objectives

• Water recovery
• wastewater
• entrained (drying)
• mineralization (oxidation)
• CO2 recovery
• supply photosynthetic requirements
• O2 generation/recovery
• Plant nutrient recovery
• recycle nutrients back to growth chambers

• Transformation to beneficial products
• simple sugars for food production
• structural materials
• fuel production (CH4, H2)
• plant growth medium
• High grade heat source

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Waste Management System Drivers
Mission Dependent
ESM mass, volume, power thermal,crew time
Treatment Objectives
System Integration
WM System
Planetary Protection
Safety Issues
Resource Recovery
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What is Preventing Significant Progress?

• Complex systems require multi-
• disciplinary inputs to decision- making.
• Not enough relevant data exist to make
  meaningful analyses and decisions.
• Plants and food production are required for
  ultimate loop closure.

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The only bioregenerative life support system
known to humans?
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Programmatic Needs

• Include all appropriate disciplines in decision
• process for each RLS candidate technology
• Life Sciences
• Engineering
• Cosmology / planetology
• Systems analysis
• Others (nanotechnology,
• psychology, etc.)

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Project-Selection Process

• Reconsider peer-reviewed NRA / BAA process
• When external science community drives
• project selection on basis of scientific
• merit, programs tend to be disconnected
• and lack critical mass .
• Must find ways to maintain core competency
• in official roadmap focus areas.

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Retain Corporate Memory in Deferred Areas

• Retain core competency in all areas IDd for
  future importance!
• Multi-disciplinary systems thinking required to
  ID those areas.
• Develop and maintain effective, searchable
  databases.
• Avoid lost generation of RLS researchers /
• trainees.

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A Bold Vision for Space Exploration, Authorized
by Congress
NASA Authorization Act of 2005
The Administrator shall establish a program to
develop a sustained human presence on the Moon,
including a robust precursor program to promote
exploration, science, commerce and U.S.
preeminence in space, and as a stepping stone to
future exploration of Mars and other destinations.

• Develop and fly the Crew Exploration Vehicle no
  later than 2014 (goal of 2012)
• Return to the Moon no later than 2020
• Extend human presence across the solar system and
  beyond
• Develop supporting innovative technologies,
  knowledge, and infrastructures
• Promote international and commercial
  participation in exploration

An Active Research Community is essential
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Commentary NASA's 2007 Budget Proposal No Real
Vision By Wesley T. Huntress Jr. and Louis
Friedman The Planetary Society posted 14
February 2006
Let's put the bottom line right at the top. The
Bush administration is unwilling to provide the
funds necessary to fulfill its Vision for Space
Exploration.
This year all that is left to pay the bill is
science. It proposes to cut NASA's Earth and
space science research grant programs by 15
percent across the board. Astrobiology, NASA's
newest and most innovative research program, is
targeted for a 50-percent cut. And all cuts are
immediate
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Dr. Carey - University of Wisconsin and
President-elect of the American Physiological
Society, spoke to Congress on behalf of the
Society. In part he said
It is disheartening to see NASAs life sciences
budget slashed from approximately 1 billion in
FY 2005 to 274 million in FY 2007. These cuts
erode the capacity to conduct the experiments
necessary to safely achieve goals that involve
long duration manned spaceflight.
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On April 19, 2007, Bart Gordon (Chair-Committee
on Science and Technology) and Mark Udall
(Chair-Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics)
sent a letter to President Bush. In part that
letter said
Your Administration recently released a national
aeronautics research policy that set worthwhile
goals for addressing our nation's future aviation
needs. However, without a corresponding
commitment of necessary resources, the goals
espoused in the aeronautics policy will be
difficult if not impossible to achieve.
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The new space race By John Lehman, June 5, 2007,
USA TODAY
China, Russia and even Japan are starting to
leave us in the dust while U.S. special interest
groups quibble over NASAs faults. What happened
to? our national ambition? The consequences are
too severe to fall behind.
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Snubbed by U.S., China Finds New Space
Partners By JIM YARDLEY Published May 24, 2007,
NY TIMES
For years, China has chafed at efforts by the
United States to exclude it from full membership
in the world's elite space club. So lately China
seems to have hit on a solution create a new
club.
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China Confirms Space Test Denies Intent To
Intimidate By JOSEPH KAHN Published January 24,
2007, NY TIMES
The Chinese government publicly confirmed Tuesday
that it had conducted a successful test of a new
antisatellite weapon but said it had no intention
of participating in a ''space race.''
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On April 18, 2007 Senators Milulski, Nelson,
Shelby, Hutchison and 9 Representatives sent a
letter to President Bush. In part the letter
said
, we feel it is imperative that we meet with
you to discuss the future of our space
program. With the emergence of China, Iran and
other nations who aspire to their own national
space programs, we feel it is necessary to
re-evaluate the needs of the National aeronautics
and Space Administration to ensure that we do not
lose our global leadership in space exploration
and science.
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"I have no doubt that global that a trend of
global warming exists," . . "I am not sure that
it is fair to say that is a problem we must
wrestle with."
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin
a research paper written by nearly 50 NASA and
Columbia University scientists and published in
the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
The paper shows how "human-made greenhouse gases
have brought the Earth's climate close to
critical tipping points, with potentially
dangerous consequences for the planet."
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NASA administrator Michael Griffin said in the
closed-door meeting Monday at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena that "unfortunately, this
is an issue which has become far more political
than technical and it would have been well for me
to have stayed out of it."
The head of NASA told scientists and engineers
that he regrets airing his personal views about
global warming
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HABITATION
Interdisciplinary association of scientists,
engineers and educators committed to

• Developing technology leading to sustainable life
  support systems for human space exploration.
• Business enhancement on earth
• Science and Math excellence in our schools

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Current NASA Budget Projections

• Habitation Community will be totally eliminated

An interdisciplinary team approach to problem
solving requires a significant learning curve and
takes years to develop.
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Habitation Institute A nationally integrated
research and development effort on closed-loop
bioregenerative life support for human activities
in space
The US now leads the world in space exploration,
including human return to the moon and on to
Mars. Human survival in space requires air,
water, food and sanctuary from the extreme
environment. Sustaining humans in deep space is
challenging because routine re-supply is not
feasible. Continued investment in closed-loop
life support research is essential for the US to
maintain its leadership role.
NASA has deferred R D for closed-loop,
bioregenerative life-support technology. US
expertise in this key area is dissipating
rapidly. In 3 years, there no longer will be a
critical mass of academic scientists conducting
studies and training the next generation of
researchers. NASA itself does not have the
intellectual capital to independently develop the
technologies nor train the future generation.
NASA must support this effort to realize its
vision of sustainable human space
exploration. Congress should direct NASA to
establish the Habitation Institute as a
consortium of US based research universities.
The operating budget for the Habitation
Institute should be no less than 10M/year.
The Habitation Institute (HI) is a
multi-institutional partnership formed to develop
and test new technologies to support human
activities within controlled environments on
Earth and in space. Modeled after the National
Biomedical Research Institute, the HI leverages
the considerable expertise of its 7 academic
partners and will expand its base to include
other governmental agencies, state and industry
customers.
University of Arizona Cornell
North Carolina State Purdue
Rutgers Texas AM Utah State
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Establish tripartite action teams

• NASA-- to provide leadership, vision,and
  programmatic direction.
• Academics-- to provide fundamental inquiry and
  creativity for discovery.
• Industry-- to provide the ability to implement
  ideas, get things done.

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Habitation2006

• 300 students and researchers attended the 3rd
  Habitation Conference

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Equivalent System Mass

• Equivalent System Mass (ESM) is
• The sum of the masses of life support equipment
  and supplied commodities,
• Plus the mass penalties for supporting
  infrastructure,
• Corrected for the crewtime required to maintain
  and operate the system.
• ESM describes the system impact in terms of a
  single parameter, mass.
• Conversion factors are derived from data on
  infrastructure technologies.
• Separate factors are used for different
  technologies and environments.
• These factors are not arbitrary, but they may
  include forecasting errors.

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ECO-LAB SPACE PROGRAM

• PLANT PRODUCTION
• FOOD PROCESSING AND NUTRITION
• WASTE PROCESSING AND
• RESOURCE RECOVERY

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LANDFILL GAS TO ENERGY Technology Demonstration
of Materials and Energy Flow
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• 100 Million metric tons in 2000
• 2500 MSW landfill nationwide

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-LFG is generated at a rate of 150 m3/metric ton
of waste with production decreasing over a 20-30
year period


-Energy value of 15-20 MJ/m3
Landfill is covered to contain gases
Perforated pipes for collecting methane gas
City electric lines
Gas filtering, compressing, and processing
Liner for containing liquids
Gas engine or turbine
Electric generator
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LFG?

• Contains about 50 methane
• Methane is a potent global warming gas
• Landfills are the largest human-made source in
  the US
• (Cost effective?) options for reducing methane
  emissions while generating useful energy
• Reduces local air pollution
• Creates jobs and improves economic development
  near landfills
• LFG is a consistent supply of energy
• LFG is generated 24/7and available over 90 of
  the time

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Burlington Resource Recovery Center

• Two 50 acre cells
• 220,000 metric tons MSW in 2002
• Potential release of 30 million m3 of LFG
• Equal to 500 million MJ
• In 2003 130,000m3/day of LFG flared
• About 30 MW not being recovered

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Landfill Gas Fired Microturbines
CAPITAL COSTS

• Pipe and blower - 100,000
• Microturbines - 200,000
• Ancillary equipment - 100,000
• Contingency - 40,000

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• Four 30 kW
• LFG supply is 0.03m3/s
• Corresponding to 550kW

• Avoided Emissions
• 480 metric tons CO2/y
• 1 metric ton Nox
• 4 metric tons SO2

• Displaces about 890,000kW-hours/yr.
• Assume 0.12/kW-h
• 4-5 year capital cost pay back

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Waste Heat Desalinization System
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AQUAPONICS
Combined culture of fish and plants

• Share
• Pumps
• Alarms
• Reservoirs
• Heater

Fish Tank replacement volume drops from 10 to
1.5/day
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Aquaponics System Layout
Base addition
Hydroponic tanks
Effluent line
Degassing
Rearing tanks
Sump Clarifier Filter tanks
Return line
Total water volume, 110 m3 Land
area - 0.05 ha
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LFG CLEAN-UP TECHNOLOGY
Secure Renewable Domestic Energy
fuel cells turbinesIC engines
methanolcarbon dioxide
CLEAN-UP and Integrated Systems
Opportunity LFG Feedstock
pipeline methaneCompressed LFG methanol
dimethyl ether
CO2 Emission Reduction
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Siloxanes are commercially produced compounds and
are used in a wide variety of applications such
as adhesives and sealants and personal care
products. Combusted siloxane compounds form hard
sand-like deposits (silicon dioxide) which
accumulate on rotor blades, spark plugs and other
engine parts and cause various engine problems
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CH4, CO2 (no VOCs)
Refrigeration

• Liquid CO2 Wash Process
• Simple, conventional, robust
• VOCs removed from LFG (Volatile Organic
  Compounds)
• Liquid CO2 free from LFG
• Liquid CO2 without recompression
• Liquid CO2 inert, not combustible
• 99 methane recovery
• 80 CO2 recovery

Liquid CO2
(no VOCs)
Dry, Compressed Landfill Gas (LFG) with VOCs
Liquid CO2 and VOCs
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FUEL CELL
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Options for reducing CO2 emissions
History
Projections
250
Oil
200
Natural Gas
150
Coal
100
Renewables
50
Nuclear
0
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
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Options for reducing CO2 emissions

• Sequestration
• CO2 capture storage
• Biosequestration direct flue gas usage recycle
  

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bioreactor

• Linear scale up
• Species control
• Temperature control
• Cost effective harvest
• Low capital cost
• Low maintenance
• Enhanced mass transfer

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VERMICOMPOST
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• Enhanced microbial activity
• Fragmentation and Stabilization

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• Vermicompost
• High porosity
• Good drainage
• Water holding capacity
• Increased nutrient availability