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Waste Management & Research
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Composting of Solid Waste During Extended Human Travel and Habitation in Space

J.A. Hogan

Department of Environmental Sciences, Cook College and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0231, U.S.A.

M.S. Finstein

Department of Environmental Sciences, Cook College and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0231, U.S.A.

As part of a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) for long term human travel and habitation in space, the resources in solid waste may be regenerated through the microbiological process of composting. This would release CO2 for photosynthetic uptake while transforming the waste to a smaller volume and weight of stabilized and sanitized compost. To continue the biodegradation and complete the cycling of nutrients, the compost would be incorporated into soil used in growing food crops. To minimize the weight and volume of the composting facility, the rate of the transformation should be maximized. This is realizable through ventilative removal of heat in reference to a biologically favorable temperature ceiling, and maintenance of a thoroughly oxygenated state. A preliminary design for a composting system for use in a spacecraft and/or permanent space station is proposed.

Key Words: human travel and habitation in space • Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) • degradative phase • composting solid waste • composting process design and control • microbial heat generation • ventilative heat removal • temperature control.

Waste Management & Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, 453-463 (1991)
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X9100900164
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