NASA OMEGA/UpCycle Systems: M-Powered Farm Project

Abstract

The world is already facing shortage of vital resources in part due to climate change and in the future it will only get worse. People are now looking for solutions and finding ways to more efficiently use what we currently consider wastes as they are among the most promising resources. This idea is particularly relevant to farmers who already use manure from their livestock as fertilizer and for making biogas—we think they can do more. The OMEGA Farm Project proposes to use ponds on farms to create a link between animal manure and energy, feed/food, and clean water to improve the overall efficiency and economics of animal farming. It works by dispersing manure from pigs, cows, or chickens in water to make a nutrient-rich liquid and a carbon-rich sludge. The liquid is clarified by electrocoagulation (EC) and used to cultivate fast-growing microalgae in photobioreactors (PBRs) floating in a nearby pond. The sludge is used for biogas and CO2 production in anaerobic digesters (AD) on land or in the pond. The biogas produced in the AD is used for heat, electricity, and CO2 that contribute to algae growth. The algae biomass is feed for the livestock on the farm or for caged fish grown in the pond. The algae and fish wastewater is processed by filtration and reverse osmosis to provide water for the livestock, while the retentate from the water purification is cycled back to the PBRs or to the AD. Water-cooled solar panels and wind turbines provide additional energy as heat and electricity. Our experiments and calculations done during the internship support the feasibility of the OMEGA Farm concept. We measured nutrients (NH3/PO4) in the extracted liquid and calculated the amount of CO2 produced in the AD plus combustion of biogas. Our results suggest the OMEGA Farm Project will help close loops between waste, food, water, and energy, which should improve the overall economics of animal farms.