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The NASA Johnson Space Center has plans to integrate a Solid Amine Water Desorbed (SAWD II) carbon dioxide removal subsystem into the Variable Pressure Growth Chamber (VPGC). The SAWD II subsystem will be used to remove any excess carbon dioxide (CO2) input into the VPGC which is not assimilated by the plants growing in the chamber. An analysis of the integrated VPGC-SAWD II system was performed using a mathematical model of the system implemented in the Computer-Aided System Engineering and Analysis (CASE/A) package. The analysis consisted of an evaluation of the SAWD II subsystem configuration within the VPGC, the planned operations for the subsystem, and the overall performance of the subsystem and other VPGC subsystems. Based on the model runs, recommendations were made concerning the SAWD II subsystem configuration and operations, and the chambers' automatic CO2 injection control subsystem.

Bioreactor technology for waste water reclamation in a regenerative life support system (RLSS) is currently being developed by a team of NASA and major aerospace companies. To advance this technology, several activities are being performed concurrently; these include conducting small-scale studies and developing computer models. Small-scale studies are being performed to characterize and enhance the bioprocesses occurring within the bioreactor. New bioreactor configurations have been investigated which improved total organic carbon degradation as well as nitrification, the polishing step which converts nitrogenous wastes into forms that are easily removable from the water. Small-scale studies have also been performed using an activated sludge reactor demonstrating that TOC reduction and nitrification can occur in a single reactor. Computer models have been developed to guide the laboratory studies and to assist in full-scale system design.