Pretreatment of urine prevents micro-organism growth in boiler and kills micro-organisms in condenser. Chemicals also clean evaporation surface, fix ammonia in boiling chamber, and suppress foaming

Hurley, T. L.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

August 1973 
•	 NASA TECH BRIEF Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
B73-10224 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
Commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Chemical Pretreatment for the Distillation of Urine 
The problem: 
Systems that distill potable water from urine must 
deal with several problems. Biological activity in the 
urine results in the accumulation of micro-organisms 
that interfere with boiling and which migrate to the 
condenser and contaminate the water. Urea decom-
poses to form ammonia which codistills with water, 
and foam builds up in the boiling chamber to such a 
height that it fills the chamber and contaminates the 
condensate stream. 
The solution: 
A chemical pretreatment of the urine prevents 
micro-organism growth in the boiler and kills micro-
organisms in the condenser. The chemicals also clean 
the evaporation surface, fix the ammonia in the boiling 
chamber, and suppress foaming. 
How it's done: 
The pretreatment solution is made up as follows: 
lodophor 0.61 gram 
Sulfuric Acid 0.34 gram 
Antifoam Agent 0.13 gram 
Water 1.17 grams 
2.25 grams
This amount is sufficent to pretreat 520 grams of 
urine.
The iodophor disinfectant contains 20 percent of 
available iodine, a small part of which codistills with 
the water and sterilizes the entire distillation unit. The 
iodophor is an effective cleansing agent and removes 
residues from the evaporator surface. 
The ammonia is fixed by the sulfuric acid, which 
will not codistill with water. The antifoam agent is a 
commercially available silicone compound. 
Note: 
Additional information may be obtained from: 
National Technical Information Service 
Springfield, Virginia 22151 
Single document price $15.00 
(or microfiche $0.95) 
Reference: NASA CR- 128878 (N73-20142), 
"Upgraded and Extended Testing of MSE In-
tegrated Water and Waste Management 
Hardware". 
Patent status: 
NASA has decided not to apply for a patent. 
Source: T. L. Hurley of
Chemtric Inc.
under contract to
Johnson Space Center 
(MSC-14225) 
Category 05, 04 
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National
	 Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States
	 information Contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
	 will be free from privately owned rights. 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730000224 2020-03-17T07:12:00+00:00Z


Chemical pretreatment for the distillation of urine

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