Regenerative life support system research and concepts

Abstract

Life support systems that involve recycling of atmospheres, water, food and waste are so complex that models incorporating all the interactions and relationships are vital to design, development, simulations, and ultimately to control of space qualified systems. During early modeling studies, FORTRAN and BASIC programs were used to obtain numerical comparisons of the performance of different regenerative concepts. Recently, models were made by combining existing capabilities with expert systems to establish an Intelligent Design Support Environment for simpliflying user interfaces and to address the need for the engineering aspects. Progress was also made toward modeling and evaluating the operational aspects of closed loop life support systems using Time-step and Dynamic simulations over a period of time. Example models are presented which show the status and potential of developed modeling techniques. For instance, closed loop systems involving algae systeMs for atmospheric purification and food supply augmentation, plus models employing high plants and solid waste electrolysis are described and results of initial evaluations are presented