Power sats and sewage

dinmont2@... writes:

> Found an article which describes something like the process you're
> talking about. Fascinating reading. But besides the hazard of Carbon
> monoxide and the chance of explosion, I wonder if the volume of water
> used by cities to move raw sewage from the toilet through the sewers
> to the collection area might compromise the process. Certainly I
> don't see it applicable on a space island.

The city of Ocala Florida used such a system from the late 1920's until the
early 1950's to produce electricity. Yes, it blew up. Some said the cause was
the company who wanted to sell the city what is now known as a conventional
waste treatment system, some say it was the giant electric company that wanted to
provide the city with electricity. No one knows the truth today and being
ancient history no one cares.

The water issue was somewhat of a problem but not as much as it would be
today because most people dumped their cloths washwater on the lawn. Today they
cannot legally do that. However, there are simple ways to deal with this in a
more controlled environment.

The manufacture of Methane Gas would use up much of the carbon. If the
mixture were properly maintained there would be no carbon monoxide produced. The
system would be starved for carbon some of the time anyway and some plant
material will have to be recycled early just to provide carbon.

The methane gas would be liquefied by placing it outside the habitat in the
shade to be used as necessary for different things including rocket fuel. It
will not explode as a liquid.
Unfortunately the production of methane gas does remove volatile from
circulation and would have to be replaced from some source. At this time it is a
minor problem to be solved. If not solved it could become a major problem.
The solution may wind up being to cook meals with it to return the volatile
to circulation. This will probably be done and any excess will be saved.

Problems, problems, problems. We are here to solve such problems, and we
will.

John Wayne