Torrefaction Processing of Human Fecal Waste, Phase I

The proposed work would make it technically feasible to process human fecal waste and mixed waste streams and produce additional water in space which will benefit long term space travel, such as an extended Lunar stay or a mission to Mars and Astroids/Phobos. The proposed approach is beneficial to NASA in also allowing for solid waste sterilization and stabilization, water recovery, odor elimination, fuel gas production, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and/or production of chemical feedstocks and carbon materials in a single processing unit. In the near term, the fecal waste processing component of the technology would have applications to fecal resource recovery and/or sterilization/stabilization problems in remote areas such as underdeveloped countries, arctic regions, oil production platforms, rural areas, farms, submarines, ships, etc., analogous to the uses for NASA technology developed for water purification. In the long term, the technology could be modified and integrated with microturbines or fuel cells and have widespread business or residential use for solid waste removal, water production and/or power generation. It would also be used by the DOD in military operations. More »