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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

An analysis of the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle with emphasis on high-level waste management, volume 1

The programs and plans of the U.S. government for the "back end of the nuclear fuel cycle" were examined to determine if there were any significant technological or regulatory gaps and inconsistencies. Particular emphasis was placed on analysis of high-level nuclear waste management plans, since the permanent disposal of radioactive waste has emerged as a major factor in the public acceptance of nuclear power. The implications of various light water reactor fuel cycle options were examined including throwaway, stowaway, uranium recycle, and plutonium plus uranium recycle. The results of this study indicate that the U.S. program for high-level waste management has significant gaps and inconsistencies. Areas of greatest concern include: the adequacy of the scientific data base for geological disposal; programs for the the disposal of spent fuel rods; interagency coordination; and uncertainties in NRC regulatory requirements for disposal of both commercial and military high-level waste.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2023

ISS Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) Optical Sensor: Phase 2

Collins Aerospace has delivered a new Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) to the International Space Station (ISS), which is not operational, partially due to a faulty urine pretreat concentration sensor. The ISS Program requested help from the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) in developing such a sensor. The first phase of this effort was to determine if an optical approach was feasible. The second Phase, the topic of this report, was to determine the impact of ISS water contaminants and pretreat aging on the performance of the sensor and to design, construct, and test a prototype sensor.

International Space Station↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Universal Waste Management System and Toilet Integration Hardware Operations on ISS – Issues, Modifications and Accomplishments

The Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), which has the ISS operational nomenclature “Toilet”, was initially installed on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2020 with final installation completed in 2021. Although technical issues were encountered that delayed installation and operations, progress was made towards the objectives of the project. Technical issue work-arounds resulted in operation of the Toilet with use by male and female crew members in a controlled extended checkout. This paper will summarize operations of the Toilet and Toilet Integration Hardware in this limited configuration, problems encountered during installation and checkout, the modifications made to allow further usage on ISS, and the future modifications planned for nominal use. It will also describe the portions of the technology demonstration that were completed and the benefits from that work and how that knowledge informs the Orion-installed UWMS unit and future manifesting of consumables for both Orion and ISS.

Toilet↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Universal Waste Management System and Toilet Integration Hardware Operations on ISS – Issues, Modifications and Accomplishments

The Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), which has the ISS operational nomenclature “Toilet”, was initially installed on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2020with final installation completed in 2021. Although technical issues were encountered that delayed installation and operations, progress was made towards the objectives of the project. Technical issue work arounds resulted in operation of the Toilet with use by male and female crew members in a controlled extended checkout and a longer nominal use. This paper will summarize operations of the Toilet and Toilet Integration Hardware in both of those configurations, problems encountered during installation and checkout, the modifications made to allow further usage on ISS, and the future modifications planned for nominal use. It will also describe the portions of the technology demonstration that were completed and the benefits from that work and how that knowledge informs the Orion-installed UWMS unit and future manifesting of consumables for both Orion and ISS.

life support↗
NASA NTRS1976

Shuttle era waste management and biowaste monitoring

The acquisition of crew biomedical data has been an important task on manned space missions. The monitoring of biowastes from the crew to support water and mineral balance studies and endocrine studies has been a valuable part of this activity. This paper will present a review of waste management systems used in past programs. This past experience will be cited as to its influence on the Shuttle design. Finally, the Shuttle baseline waste management system and the proposed Shuttle biomedical measurement and sampling systems will be presented.

Sauer, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Shuttle waste management system design improvements and flight evaluation

The Space Shuttle waste management system has undergone a variety of design changes to improve performance and man-machine interface. These design improvements have resulted in more reliable operation and hygienic usage. Design enhancements include individual urinals, increased urine collection airflows, increased solids storage capacity, easier access to personal hygiene items, and additional wet trash stowage. The development and flight evaluation of these improvements are described herein. The Space Shuttle Orbiter has proved to be an invaluable test bed for development and in-flight evaluation of life support and habitability concepts which involve transport or separation of solids, liquids, and gases in a zero-g environment.

Winkler, H. Eugene↗
NASA NTRS1987

USBI Booster Production Company's Hazardous Waste Management Program at the Kennedy Space Center, FL

In response to the hazardous-waste generating processes associated with the launch of the Space Shuttle, a hazardous waste management plan has been developed. It includes waste recycling, product substitution, waste treatment, and waste minimization at the source. Waste material resulting from the preparation of the nonmotor segments of the solid rocket boosters include waste paints (primer, topcoats), waste solvents (methylene chloride, freon, acetone, toluene), waste inorganic compounds (aluminum anodizing compound, fixer), and others. Ways in which these materials are contended with at the Kennedy Space Center are discussed.

Venuto, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2002

Solid Waste Management Requirements Definition for Advanced Life Support Missions: Results

Prior to determining what Solid Waste Management (SWM) technologies should be researched and developed by the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Project for future missions, there is a need to define SWM requirements. Because future waste streams will be highly mission-dependent, missions need to be defined prior to developing SWM requirements. The SWM Working Group has used the mission architecture outlined in the System Integration, Modeling and Analysis (SIMA) Element Reference Missions Document (RMD) as a starting point in the requirement development process. The missions examined include the International Space Station (ISS), a Mars Dual Lander mission, and a Mars Base. The SWM Element has also identified common SWM functionalities needed for future missions. These functionalities include: acceptance, transport, processing, storage, monitoring and control, and disposal. Requirements in each of these six areas are currently being developed for the selected missions. This paper reviews the results of this ongoing effort and identifies mission-dependent resource recovery requirements.

Alazraki, Michael P.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Upgrading and extended testing of the MSC integrated water and waste management hardware

The results are presented of upgrading and testing an integrated water and waste management system, which uses the compression distillation, reverse osmosis, adsorption filtration and ion-exchange processes to recover potable water from urine, flush water and used wash water. Also included is the development of techniques for extending the useful biological life of biological filters, activated carbon filters and ion-exchange resins to at least 30 days, and presterilizing ion-exchange resins so that sterile water can be recovered from waste water. A wide variety of reverse osmosos materials, surfactants and germicides were experimentally evaluated to determine the best combination for a wash water subsystem. Full-scale module tests with real wash water demonstrated that surface fouling is a major problem.

Bambenek, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Trade study for water and waste management concepts. Task 7: Support special analysis

Cost analyses and tradeoff studies are given for waste management in the Space Station, Lunar Surface Bases, and interplanetary space missions. Crew drinking water requirements are discussed and various systems to recycle water are examined. The systems were evaluated for efficiency and weight savings. The systems considered effective for urine water recovery were vapor compression, flash evaporation, and air evaporation with electrolytic pretreatment. For wash water recovery, the system of multifiltration was selected. A wet oxidation system, which can process many kinds of wastes, is also considered.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1979

Food and waste management biotechnology for the space shuttle

Space-crew facilities for preparation, eating, personal hygiene and waste management are contained in one small area of the Shuttle Orbiter Mid-Deck, all the functional systems being interconnected. The paper discusses three major systems: (1) the Galley, which includes the personal hygiene station and food packages; (2) the Waste Collector, which includes provisions for male and female users, urine, feces and emesis collection in both a normal and contigency mode of operation; and (3) Biowaste Monitoring, which includes mass measurement and sampling. The technology improvement continues by assuring that the Orbiter systems have sufficient design flexibility to permit later improvements in operation and in function.

Murray, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Improving Logistics and Waste Management for Deep Space Human Exploration

NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Logistics Reduction Project is developing technologies that reduce mission mass and volume for exploration. Recently there has been increasing interest in determining the quantity of consumable logistics and system spares necessary to ensure a certain level of reliability. This is influenced by a technology's criticality and degree of impact to the overall mission. Technologies that directly reduce mass (e.g. longer wear crew clothing) are relatively straightforward for calculating the savings and understanding the mission impacts. Waste management technologies that process waste can reduce mass, but spares and contingency modes are more interwoven with other vehicle systems, so assessment is more complex. This paper considers mission benefits while also considering impacts from hardware failures for technologies including: crew clothing, reusable cargo bags for habitat outfitting, automated RFID cargo tracking, trash processing/storage/repurposing, and high reliability toilets.

Broyan, James Lee, Jr.↗