Recommended Citation
January 1, 2010.
Abstract
Recovering water aboard spacecrafts is essential for space exploration. Bringing fresh water to outer space for crew members is an expensive process. Therefore, recycling waste water to usable water is necessary for long term space missions and applications. Previous experiments showed that urea, which is the main substance in urine, prematurely fouled the membrane used in the water treatment process. In this experiment we investigated different carbon-based materials to act as a urea pre-treatment step. A total of nine different materials were tested for the amount of urea they can adsorb. The adsorption rate will enable us to decide which material is best for the pre-treatment process. Out of nine adsorbents, three had good adsorption rate with over 90% of urea is adsorbed.
Mentor
Tra-my Justine Richardson
Lab site
NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/27