Development and Integration of a Breadboard-Scale Aerobic Bioreactor to Regenerate Nutrients from Inedible Crop Residues

Finger, Barry W.; Alazraki, Michael P.

doi:10.4271/951498

Cited by 33 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…By incinerating feces, inedible biomass, and trash, between 3 and 30 g of NO x will be generated per day, depending mostly on the amount of nitrogen in the inedible biomass. The range in the amount of NO x produced covers 90% pretreatment removal of nitrogen to no pretreatment . (Calculations were made under the assumption of maximum NO emission.)…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for the Control of NO_x Emissions in Long-Range Space Travel

Shi

Liu³

et al. 2003

Energy Fuels

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The wheat straw, an inedible biomass that can be continuously produced in a space vehicle has been used to produce activated carbon for effective control of NOx emissions from the incineration of wastes. The optimal carbonization temperature of wheat straw was found to be around 600 degrees C when a burnoff of 67% was observed. The BET surface area of the activated carbon produced from the wheat straw reached as high as 300 m2/g. The presence of oxygen in flue gas is essential for effective adsorption of NO by activated carbon. On the contrary, water vapor inhibits the adsorption efficiency of NO. Consequently, water vapor in flue gas should be removed by drying agents before adsorption to ensure high NO adsorption efficiency. All of the NO in the flue gas was removed for more than 2 h by the activated carbons when 10% oxygen was present and the ratio of carbon weight to the flue gas flow rate (W/F) was 30 g min/L, with a contact time of 10.2 s. All of NO was reduced to N2 by the activated carbon at 450 degrees C with a W/F ratio of 15 g min/L and a contact time of 5.1 s. Reduction of the adsorbed NO also regenerated the activated carbon, and the regenerated activated carbon exhibited an improved NO adsorption efficiency. However, the reduction of the adsorbed NO resulted in a loss of carbon which was determined to be about 0.99% of the activated carbon per cycle of regeneration. The sufficiency of the amount of wheat straw in providing the activated carbon based on a six-person crew, such as the mission planned for Mars, has been determined. This novel approach for the control of NOx emissions is sustainable in a closed system such as the case in space travel. It is simple to operate and is functional under microgravity environment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for the Control of NO_x Emissions in Long-Range Space Travel

Shi

Liu³

et al. 2003

Energy Fuels

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“…However, this study is the first to compare the effects of different crop residue drying and size reduction pretreatment methods on the same batch of crop (wheat) residue. A comparison of these leach-ing results with past leaching and resource recovery biodegradation studies at KSC is difficult (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)16), because most were done with one pretreatment (i.e., oven-dried and milled crop residues). In addition, a complete mass or mineral balance was not done for the CSTR biodegradation studies, which mainly stressed only what was present in the leachate or bioreactor effluent and ignored what was not recovered and left behind in the leached or bioprocessed solids.…”

Section: Dry Weight Loss and Ash Content Of Leached Solids And Solublmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This loading rate was selected because it had been used in previous studies of crop residue bioprocessing in continuous stirred tank reactors (3,4,(12)(13)(14). However, fresh chopped wheat residues could not be magnetically stirred at this loading rate.…”

Section: Crop Residue Leaching Techniquementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These preprocessing steps were identified during review of previous bioreactor studies (3,4,12,13) as having the best potential for increasing the recovery of inorganic crop nutrients. Increases in nutrient recovery will be weighed against the costs of the preprocessing steps.…”

Section: Crop Residue Preleaching Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies at KSC have shown a CSTR can be used to recycle inorganic nutrients from crop residues back to a hydroponic crop production system (3,4,(12)(13)(14). These mineral nutrients were leached from the crop residue in the bioreactor and recovered in the harvested broth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effect of Drying and Size Reduction Pretreatments on Recovery of Inorganic Crop Nutrients From Inedible Wheat Residues

Strayer

Alazraki²,

Judkins³

2003

habitation (elmsford)

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Inorganic nutrients can be easily recovered from ALS crop residue solid wastes by aqueous leaching. However, oven-drying and milling pretreatment of these residues has been frequently required to accommodate crop scientists and facility storage limitations. As part of a research study that will compare three different bioreactor technologies for processing these wastes, we realized that different drying and size reduction pretreatments had been utilized for each technology. This article compares the effects of residue pretreatment on recovery of nutrients by leaching. Pretreatments included three drying methods [fresh, oven-dried (70°C overnight), and freeze-dried)] and two size reduction methods [chopped (2 cm length) and milled (2 mm diameter)]. Determination of mass balances (dry weight and ash content of solids) before and after leaching indicated solublization was least for fresh residues (23% dry weight loss and 50% for ash loss) and most for freeze-dried residues (41-47% dry weight loss and nearly 100% for ash loss). Mineral recovery of major elements (NO 3 , PO 4 , K, Ca, and Mg) in leachates was poorest for fresh residues. P and K recovery in leachates was best for oven-dried residues, and Ca, Mg, and N recovery best for freeze-dried residues. The differences in recovery for N, P, and K in leachates were minimal between chopping and milling and slightly better for Ca and Mg from milled residues. conversion of crop residue (15). However, oven-drying and milling pretreatment of these residues (inedible roots, stems, leaves, and chaff) had been frequently required to accommodate crop scientists and facility storage limitations. As a first step, wheat residues were extracted with water at room temperature to remove soluble compounds that might later interfere with cellulose hydrolysis. Upon analysis, this aqueous extract (leachate) was found to contain significant quantities of many plant nutrients (nitrate, K, Ca, Mg, phosphate, etc.). This leachate could be used to replenish wheat hydroponic solutions, but soluble organic compounds were also extracted (7,8). These compounds led to problems in the nutrient delivery system if not first removed from the leachate

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