Technical Paper
Biologically Mediated Solids Degradation and Nitrogen Recovery from Inedible Plant Residues
1999-07-12
1999-01-2065
Nutrient recovery and biodegradation of inedible biomass is an integral part of an Advanced Life Support (ALS) system for space travel. This study investigates the mineralization and nitrogen recovery of hydroponically grown crops, namely, tomato, peanut, wheat and a 50:50 mixture of peanut and wheat. Shaker flask studies were conducted under various growth conditions of temperature and incubation times utilizing activated sludge and Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) inocula. Incubation temperature ranged from 25°C to 60°C and the flasks were monitored for nutrient recovery and solids reduction at 16, 32, 64 and 128 days. For the activated sludge systems, overall solids destruction during the 128 days of incubation ranged from 56% to 60% for the crops investigated. Similar results were found for the fungal systems indicating no substantial degradation enhancement.