Assessment of carbon recovery from solid organic wastes by supercritical water oxidation for a regenerative life support system.

The carbon recovery from organic space waste by supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) was studied to support resource recovery in a regenerative life support system. Resource recovery is of utmost importance in such systems which only have a limited total amount of mass. However, the practical waste treatment strategies for solid space wastes employed today are only storing and disposal without further recovery. This work assesses the performance of SCWO at recovering organic wastes as CO2 and water, to discuss the superiority of SCWO over most present strategies, and to evaluate the different SCWO reactor systems for space application. Experiments were carried out with a batch and a continuous reactor at different reaction conditions. The liquid and gas products distribution were analyzed to understand the conversion of organics in SCWO. Up to 97% and 93% of the feed carbon were recovered as CO2 in the continuous and the batch reactor, respectively. Residual carbon was mostly found as soluble organics in the effluent. Compared with the batch reactor, the continuous reactor system demonstrated a ten times higher capacity within the same reactor volume, while the batch reactor system was capable of handling feeds that contained particulate matter though suffering from poor heat integration (hence low-energy efficiency) and inter-batch variability. It was concluded that SCWO could be a promising technology to treat solid wastes for space applications. A continuous reactor would be more suitable for a regenerative life support system.

Sub- and supercritical water oxidation of anaerobic fermentation sludge for carbon and nitrogen recovery in a regenerative life support system.

Sub- and supercritical water oxidation was applied to recover carbon as CO2, while maintaining nitrogen as NH4+ or NO3-, from sludge obtained from an anaerobic fermenter running on a model waste composed of plant residues and human fecal matter. The objective was to fully convert carbon in the organic waste to CO2 while maintaining nutrients (specifically N) in the liquid effluent. In regenerative life support systems, CO2 and nutrients could then be further used in plant production; thus creating a closed carbon and nutrient cycle. The effect of the operational parameters in water oxidation on carbon recovery (C-to-CO2) and nitrogen conversion (to NH4+, NO3-) was investigated. A batch micro-autoclave reactor was used, at pressures ranging between 110 and 300 bar and at temperatures of 300-500 °C using hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer. Residence times of 1, 5 and 10 min were tested. Oxidation efficiency increased as temperature increased, with marginal improvements beyond the critical temperature of water. Prolonging the residence time improved only slightly the carbon oxidation efficiency. Adequate oxygen supply, i.e., exceeding the stoichiometrically required amount, resulted in high carbon conversion efficiencies (>85%) and an odorless, clear liquid effluent. However, the corresponding oxidizer use efficiency was low, up to 50.2% of the supplied oxygen was recovered as O2 in the effluent gas and did not take part in the oxidation. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were found as the major soluble organic compounds remaining in the effluent liquid. Nitrogen recovery was high at 1 min residence time (>94.5%) and decreased for longer residence times (down to 36.4% at 10 min). Nitrogen in the liquid effluent was mostly in the form of ammonium.

Electrochemically driven extraction and recovery of ammonia from human urine.

Human urine contains high concentrations of nitrogen, contributing about 75% of the nitrogen in municipal wastewaters yet only 1% of the volume. Source separation of urine produces an ideal waste stream for nitrogen and phosphorus recovery, reducing downstream costs of nutrient treatment at wastewater treatment facilities. We examined the efficiency and feasibility of ammonia extraction and recovery from synthetic and undiluted human urine using an electrochemical cell (EC). EC processing of synthetic urine produced an ammonium flux of 384 ± 8 g N m(-2) d(-1) with a 61 ± 1% current efficiency at an energy input of 12 kWh kg(-1) N removed. EC processing of real urine displayed similar performance, with an average ammonium flux of 275 ± 5 g N m(-2) d(-1) sustained over 10 days with 55 ± 1% current efficiency for ammonia and at an energy input of 13 kWh kg(-1) N removed. With the incorporation of an ammonia stripping and absorption unit into the real urine system, 57 ± 0.5% of the total nitrogen was recovered as ammonium sulfate. A system configuration additionally incorporating stripping of the influent headspace increased total nitrogen recovery to 79% but led to reduced performance of the EC as the urine ammonium concentration decrease. Direct stripping of ammonia (NH3) from urine with no chemical addition achieved only 12% total nitrogen recovery at hydraulic retention times comparable with the EC systems. Our results demonstrate that ammonia can be extracted via electrochemical means at reasonable energy inputs of approximately 12 kWh kg(-1) N. Considering also that the hydrogen generated is worth 4.3 kWh kg(-1) N, the net electrical input for extraction becomes approximately 8 kWh kg(-1) N if the hydrogen can be used. Critical for further development will be the inclusion of a passive means for ammonia stripping to reduce additional energy inputs.

Electrochemically and bioelectrochemically induced ammonium recovery.

Streams such as urine and manure can contain high levels of ammonium, which could be recovered for reuse in agriculture or chemistry. The extraction of ammonium from an ammonium-rich stream is demonstrated using an electrochemical and a bioelectrochemical system. Both systems are controlled by a potentiostat to either fix the current (for the electrochemical cell) or fix the potential of the working electrode (for the bioelectrochemical cell). In the bioelectrochemical cell, electroactive bacteria catalyze the anodic reaction, whereas in the electrochemical cell the potentiostat applies a higher voltage to produce a current. The current and consequent restoration of the charge balance across the cell allow the transport of cations, such as ammonium, across a cation exchange membrane from the anolyte to the catholyte. The high pH of the catholyte leads to formation of ammonia, which can be stripped from the medium and captured in an acid solution, thus enabling the recovery of a valuable nutrient. The flux of ammonium across the membrane is characterized at different anolyte ammonium concentrations and currents for both the abiotic and biotic reactor systems. Both systems are compared based on current and removal efficiencies for ammonium, as well as the energy input required to drive ammonium transfer across the cation exchange membrane. Finally, a comparative analysis considering key aspects such as reliability, electrode cost, and rate is made. This video article and protocol provide the necessary information to conduct electrochemical and bioelectrochemical ammonia recovery experiments. The reactor setup for the two cases is explained, as well as the reactor operation. We elaborate on data analysis for both reactor types and on the advantages and disadvantages of bioelectrochemical and electrochemical systems.

Amino acid residues of RegA important for interactions with the CbbR-DNA complex of Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

CbbR and RegA (PrrA) are transcriptional regulators of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) CO2 fixation pathway (cbbI and cbbII) operons of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The CbbR and RegA proteins interact, but CbbR must be bound to the promoter DNA in order for RegA-CbbR protein-protein interactions to occur. RegA greatly enhances the ability of CbbR to bind the cbbI promoter or greatly enhances the stability of the CbbR/promoter complex. The N-terminal receiver domain and the DNA binding domain of RegA were shown to interact with CbbR. Residues in α-helix 7 and α-helix 8 of the DNA binding domain (helix-turn-helix) of RegA directly interacted with CbbR, with α-helix 7 positioned immediately above the DNA and α-helix 8 located in the major groove of the DNA. A CbbR protein containing only the DNA binding motif and the linker helix was capable of binding to RegA. In contrast, a truncated CbbR containing only the linker helix and recognition domains I and II (required for effector binding) was not able to interact with RegA. The accumulated results strongly suggest that the DNA binding domains of both proteins interact to facilitate optimal transcriptional control over the cbb operons. In vivo analysis, using constitutively active mutant CbbR proteins, further indicated that CbbR must interact with phosphorylated RegA in order to accomplish transcriptional activation.

Integrative control of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulfur metabolism: the central role of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle.

Nonsulfur purple (NSP) photosynthetic bacteria use the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) reductive pentose phosphate pathway for the reduction of CO(2) via ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase-oxygenase (RubisCO), as a means to build cell mass during chemoautotrophic or photoautotrophic conditions. In addition, the CBB pathway plays an important role in maintaining redox balance during photoheterotrophic growth conditions. In this communication we describe protein-protein interactions between two transcriptional regulators CbbR and RegA and the possible role of the CbbX protein in regulating the CBB pathway in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. In Rhodopseudomonas palustris, the CbbR and the CbbRRS system (a three-protein, two-component regulatory system) regulate the CBB pathway. Moreover, derepression of the nitrogenase complex, and the production of hydrogen gas, appears to be a common mechanism to balance the redox potential in RubisCO-compromised strains of NSP photosynthetic bacteria.