Abstract Long duration human spaceflight poses challenges for spacecraft autonomy and the regeneration of life support consumables, such as oxygen and water. Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS), which make use of biological processes to transform biological byproducts back into consumables, have the ability to recycle organic byproducts and are the preferred option for food production. A limitation in BLSS research is in the non-availability of small-scale experimental capacities that may help to better understand the challenges in system closure, integration, and control. Ground-based aquatic habitats are an option for small-scale research relevant to bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS), given that they can operate as self-contained systems enclosing a habitat composed of various species in a single volume of water. The purpose of this paper is to present the modeling and simulation of a reconfigurable aquatic habitat for experiments in regenerative life support automation; it supports the use of aquatic habitats as a small-scale approach to experiments relevant to larger-scale regenerative life support systems. It presents ground-based aquatic habitats as an option for small-scale BLSS research focusing on the process of respiration, and elaborates on the description of biological processes by introducing models of ecophysiological phenomena for consumers and producers: higher plants of the species Bacopa monnieri produce O2 for snails of the genus Pomacea; the snails consume O2 and generate CO2, which is used by the plants in combination with radiant energy to generate O2 through the process of photosynthesis. Feedback controllers are designed to regulate the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water. This paper expands the description of biological processes by introducing models of ecophysiological phenomena of the organisms involved. The model of the plants includes a description of the rate of CO2 assimilation as a function of irradiance. Simulations and validation runs with hardware show how these phenomena may act as disturbances to the control mechanisms that maintain safe concentration levels of dissolved oxygen in the habitat.
Highlights Presents and validates a mathematical model focusing on respiration in aquatic habitats. Incorporates ecophysiological models to the physico-chemical description of the system. Ecophysiological models include consumers (snails) and producers (higher plants). Results suggest the use of robust-adaptive control for oxygen production regulation.
Modeling and simulation of an aquatic habitat for bioregenerative life support research
Acta Astronautica ; 93 ; 138-147
2013-07-05
10 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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