Indian-origin researchers have developed a process to turn human waste into biogas that could fuel rockets to ferry astronuts back to Earth.
The study led to the creation of an anaerobic digester process, which kills pathogens from human waste, and produces biogas - a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide by breaking down organic matter in waste. For the study, NASA supplied the scientists with a packaged form of chemically produced human waste that also included simulated food waste, towels, wash cloths, cloathing and packaging materials.
Pullammanappalli and then-graduate student Abhisekh Dhoble, now a doctoral student at the University of Illionois, ran laboratory tests to find out how much methane could be produced from the waste and how quickly.
In Earth-bound applications, that fuel could be used for heating, electricity generation or transportation.
The digestion process also would produce about 200 gallons of non-potable water annually from all waste.
