| | |
 |
|
| 08-25-2004 | Previous edition: 08-24-2004 |
        
     |
Printer-friendly version New process reuses water from waste
Campus Editor As soon as 10 years from now, astronauts could be drinking their purified urine and feces in space. Water accounts for 90 percent of the life-sustaining supplies astronauts need in space. NASA wants to minimize the mass that is on board spacecrafts in order to keep mission costs down. Preventing the need for thousands of gallons of water would help make a mission to Mars more affordable. Research teams at Purdue have found a method to lessen the water load. James Alleman, professor of civil engineering, and others have found a way to separate water from urine and feces, which are donated by volunteers. From a NASA-provided toilet — similar to those on airplanes that use a vacuum instead of water — the urine goes down one pipe and the feces go to a storage tank that is actually a small beer keg. Then researchers add other wastes that the astronauts would dispose of. The feces and other wastes are in the keg for 10 to 12 days. The thin, pudding-like liquid is transferred to Jeff Volenec, professor of agronomy, Brad Joern, assistant professor of agronomy, and Shane Howard, a graduate student of purification. The liquid is 97 percent water and 3 percent solids. "We use plants to remove the water and the solids left behind fertilize the plants," Volenec said. Although all plants do not tolerate the "fertilizer," Volenec and the team are closer to finding plants that survive and would be useful to the astronauts. Right now they are hoping rice continues to be successful. The researchers purify the water by passing it through plant roots to the leaves and then the water vapor is released through the plant’s pores. The vapor condenses upon contact with cold pipes, producing clean, recycled water. Volenec said there is another purification step that uses ultraviolet radiation. "You have fairly pure water ready to go," Volenec said. "I would drink it without any hesitation." Urine goes through a separate process. It is chilled to the point of ice crystal formation. "The urine resembles a slushee," Alleman. The researchers then harvest the ice crystals. The ice crystals can then be used as water. "The water we make from urine is actually better quality than the water from tap," Alleman. The NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Advanced Life Support, in which Purdue is the lead research university, is funded for five years with $10 million. The center is working with NASA to help support astronauts in space. Waste treatment is one aspect of the center’s research. "In space there is no giant ecosystem and space is tight (in the space craft) so there is a need to reuse materials," said Alleman, who is also the associate director of the center. To test this research, NASA would first go to the moon to ensure that the water purification system works properly, and then take the technology to Mars. "We are talking about going to the moon in about 2015 and 2020s or 2030s for Mars," said Alleman. Printer-friendly version |
|
Front Page | Campus | City | Features | Opinions | Sports | Classifieds Advertising | Archive | Links | About us | Letter Submission Form To report any errors with or to give ideas on how we can improve the online edition of The Exponent contact Online Production |
