A Hybrid Pyrolysis/Incineration System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery

The objective of the Phase I SBIR program was to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating pyrolysis and incineration steps into a system for processing of spacecraft solid wastes. The Phase I study involved a combination of bench scale experiments and data analysis. This work was accomplished in four tasks: 1) design and construct bench scale unit; 2) laboratory studies on solid waste processing; 3) evaluation of laboratory results; 4) preliminary design of Phase II prototype. The Phase I project demonstrated that it is possible to pyrolyze a representative solid waste sample and combust the effluent gases in a catalytic incinerator in a close-coupled integrated reactor system. The net result is a significant reduction in Equivalent System Mass (estimated at about 40%) and system complexity. This integration takes advantage of the best features of each process, which is insensitivity to product mix, no O2 consumption, and batch processing, in the case of pyrolysis, and simplicity of product effluent stream in case of incineration. Under Phase II, a prototype hybrid pyrolysis/incineration system will be developed in collaboration with Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) and delivered to NASA.