Affiliation:
1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences,
China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
2. Organic Recycling Research Institute (Suzhou) of China Agriculture University, Suzhou 215100, China.
3. National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering, China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing 100094, China.
Abstract
During space missions, various waste products are produced. Recyclable waste can be treated by aerobic composting to achieve in situ recycling. Considering the limited logistics supply in the Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS), waste recycling should reduce energy consumption and material carrying pressure, increase recycling efficiency, and improve the quality of the daily life of astronauts. However, current composting technology often has polluting gas emissions in the case of limited oxygen (O
2
) consumption. Therefore, this review aims to distill available information about aerospace mission waste production and its treatment methods, analyze the influencing factors of composting, and summarize optimal O
2
demand of aerobic composting of aerospace biomass waste. It also aims to define optimal O
2
demand of each stage of aerobic composting of organic waste in order to achieve a low O
2
consumption composting technology for the extraterrestrial planet base. The main recyclable wastes (feces, food residue, and non-edible parts of plants or crops) generated in CELSS are expected to be 0.13 kg, 0.31 kg, and 2.12 kg/person/day, which requires 0.173 to 0.692 kg of O
2
for the normal composting process. Due to the change of the degradation rate at different stages, the O
2
demand of each stage is different. In detail, the different stages for varying O
2
requirements are the heating period: 0.022 to 0.032 L
.
kg
−1.
dry matter (DM)
.
min
−1
, the thermophilic period: 0.027 to 0.05 L
.
kg
−1.
DM
.
min
−1
, and the cooling period: 0.006 to 0.02 L
.
kg
−1.
DM
.
min
−1
. The O
2
demand of aerospace biomass waste compost could be 0.022 to 0.153 L
.
kg
−1.
DM
.
min
−1
. Adequate O
2
supply according to these requirements could reduce O
2
consumption and potential pollutant emission.
Funder
National Key Laboratory of Human Factors Engineering
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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