Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering, Volume I and II

SMALL FLOW WASTEWATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR DOMESTIC AND SPECIAL APPLICATIONS 1091

intensive agricultural technique necessary to grow and process

food in very confined spaces under low or zero gravity.

Some of the technologies developed for the space

program have possible application on earth. Many of the

applications will only be relevant to submarines and hyper-

baric chambers. In some cases there may be more widespread

uses, such as the recovery and reuse of dehumidification and

hygiene water in arid areas or in very cold climates, remov-

ing CO 2 and regenerating O 2 , and controlling temperature

and humidity in deep mines or while drilling long tunnels.

Certain technologies may be applicable to the treatment of

industrial emissions and/or effluents. It is likely that the

basic technological knowledge will be applied to terrestrial

problems, rather than the actual hardware developed for the

space program. 74 – 77 Possible terrestrial application of space

craft environmental systems are presented in Table 2.

TABLE 1

ECLSS technologies used or evaluated

ECLSS subsystem category Used/Evaluated Technology

Atmosphere revitalisation Used LiOH

Used Molecular sieve

Used Sabatier reactor

Used Static feed water electrolysis

Evaluated Solid amine fixed bed

Evaluated Liquid sorbent closed loop

Evaluated Bosch system

Evaluated Algal bioreactor

Evaluated Growing green plants

Trace contaminant removal Used Activated charcoal

Used Catalytic oxidiser

Used Particulate filters

Water recovery and management Used Vapor compression distillation

Used Chlorine

Used Sodium hypochlorite injection

Used Iodine injection

Used Heat sterilisation

Used Fuel cell byproduct water

Evaluated Unibed filter

Evaluated TIMES membrane filter

Evaluated Reverse osmosis

Evaluated Electrodialysis

Evaluated Electrooxidation

Evaluated Supercritical water oxidation

Evaluated Electrodeionisation

Evaluated Air evaporation

Evaluated Vapor phase catalytic

ammonia removal

Evaluated Immobilised cell or enzyme bioreactors

Evaluated Plant transpiration and water recovery

Temperature and humidity control Used Condensing heat exchangers

Used Water cooled suits

Atmosphere control and supply Used Compressed gas storage

Used Cryogenic gas storage

Waste management Used Urine stored in bags

Used Feces stored in bags

Used Urine vented

Used Feces stored in bags and vacuum dried

Used Urine stored in tank and vented

Used Feces stored in bags and compacted

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