Wastewater reclamation for a manned mars mission using high pressure rotating reverse osmosis

To complete a long term manned Mars mission requires the recycling of all of the life support resources for the maintenance of the crew. Supplying a potable source of water for the crew is especially critical. Reverse osmosis has been tested and is expected to be used in a wastewater recycling system in space to remove small dissolved contaminants. However, limitations due to concentration polarization and fouling of the membrane hinder the use of reverse osmosis. An innovative system that may improve the efficiency of standard reverse osmosis in space applications is high pressure rotating reverse osmosis. Week-long testing of a high-pressure rotating reverse osmosis system has been successfully completed with a wastewater ersatz solution. The flux decreased steadily throughout the test, most likely due to fouling of the membrane surface. The organic contaminants in the solution were rejected well (approximately 70%) for the duration of the test while the ionic contaminants exhibited rejection between 30 and 50%. Rotating reverse osmosis may provide a system that may be used at a higher recovery, with higher flux of the wastewater and higher rejection of the contaminants in the waste stream than conventional reverse osmosis.