Urine volume reduction during long-duration cave exploration by a light-weight and portable forward osmosis system

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2020-09-01 DOI:10.5038/1827-806x.49.3.2336

S. Engelhardt, Katey Bender, Jörg Vogel, Stephen E. Duirk, F. Moore, H. Barton, A Aquaporin

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

The preservation of caves is a challenge during long-duration cave expeditions where human waste can add significant nitrogen to the cave ecosystem. Since the removal of urine that accumulates during a multi-day caving trip is not always feasible due to weight and volume constraints, a light-weight and portable filtration system that is capable of reducing urine volume would be desirable. In this study we tested the Aquaporin Inside hollow fiber membrane in a forward osmosis (FO) setup to evaluate its capability to reduce urine volume while rejecting nitrogenous compounds using different draw solution chemistries and water recovery rates. As a result, we introduce a light-weight and portable FO prototype that was able to reduce urine volume by over 80%. Although total nitrogen (TN) rejection in this process did not exceed 70%, allowing some nitrogen to move across the membrane into the draw solution, evaporation allowed draw solution recycling without loss of nitrogenous compounds into the atmosphere. These data suggest that FO may be a suitable strategy to reduce urine volume and improve methods for nitrogenous waste handling during long-term cave exploration.

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轻便便携式正渗透系统在长时间洞穴探测中减少尿量

在长期的洞穴探险中，洞穴的保护是一个挑战，因为人类排泄物会给洞穴生态系统增加大量的氮。由于重量和体积的限制，去除在多日开采过程中积聚的尿液并不总是可行的，因此需要一种能够减少尿液体积的轻便便携式过滤系统。在这项研究中，我们在正渗透（FO）装置中测试了Aquaporin Inside中空纤维膜，以评估其在使用不同的提取溶液化学成分和水回收率来抑制含氮化合物的同时减少尿量的能力。因此，我们推出了一种重量轻、便携的FO原型，能够将尿量减少80%以上。尽管该过程中的总氮（TN）截留率不超过70%，允许一些氮穿过膜进入提取溶液，但蒸发允许提取溶液再循环，而不会将含氮化合物损失到大气中。这些数据表明，在长期洞穴勘探过程中，FO可能是减少尿量和改进含氮废物处理方法的合适策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.