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In designing innovative space plant growth facilities (SPGF) for long duration space flight, various limitations must be addressed including onboard resources: volume, energy consumption, heat transfer and crew labor expenditure. The required accuracy in evaluating on board resources by using the equivalent mass methodology and applying it to the design of such facilities is not precise. This is due to the uncertainty of the structure and not completely understanding the properties of all associated hardware, including the technology in these systems. We present a simple criteria of optimization for horticultural regimes in SPGF: Qmax = max [M x (EBI)2/(V x E x T], where M is the crop harvest in terms of total dry biomass in the plant growth system; EBI is the edible biomass index (harvest index), V is volume occupied by the crop; E is the crop light energy supply during growth; T is the crop growth duration. The criterion reflects directly on the consumption of onboard resources for crop production.

Abstract The relationship between fuel consumption in a multi-storey block of flats and climatic exposure is investigated. Fuel consumption anomalies between identical flats are attributed to vagaries in the airflow around the building and highlight the need for improved standards of thermal insulation and/or differential thermal insulation, dependent upon flat location. Climate and building design and the subject of building Climatology in architectural education are discussed briefly.

Constructed in 1986, the Biosphere 2 Test Module has been used since the end of that year for closed ecological systems experiments. It is the largest closed ecological facility ever built, with a sealed variable volume of some 480 cubic meters. It is built with a skin of steel spaceframes with double-laminated glass panels admitting about 65 percent Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). The floor is of welded steel and there is an underground atmospheric connection via an air duct to a variable volume chamber ("lung") permitting expansion and contraction of the Test Module's air volume caused by changes in temperature and barometric pressure, which causes a slight positive pressure from inside the closed system to the outside thereby insuring that the very small leakage rate is outward. Several series of closed ecological system investigations have been carried out in this facility. One series of experiments investigated the dynamics of higher plants and associated soils with the atmosphere under varying light and temperature conditions. Another series of experiments included one human in the closed system for three, five and twenty-one days. During these experiments the Test Module had subsystems which completely recycled its water and atmosphere; all the human dietary needs were produced within the facility, and all wastes were recycled using a marsh plant/microbe system. Other experiments have examined the capability of individual component systems used, such as the soil bed reactors, to eliminate experimentally introduced trace gases. Analytic systems developed for these experiments include continuous monitors of eleven atmospheric gases in addition to the complete gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) examinations of potable, waste system and irrigation water quality.

The design of the facility is described in terms of its use as an investigation tool for evaluating crop growth in space with reference to required emerging technologies. NASA's CELSS Test Facility (CTF) is designed to permit the measurement of crop-plant productivity under microgravity conditions including biomass production, food production, water transpiration, and O2/CO2 exchanges. Crucial hardware tests and qualifications are identified to assure the operation of CTF technologies in space including the nutrient-delivery, water-condensation, and gas-liquid-mixing subsystems. The design concept and related scientific requirements are described and shown to provide microgravity crop research. The CTF is expected to provide data for plant research and for concepts for bioregenerative life-support systems for applications to Martian, lunar, and space-station missions.

To satisfy the needs of a demanding and competitive market, Amtrol-Alfa decided to allocate its resources in a new innovative composite cylinder. The CoMet cylinder consists of a thin steel inner liner, wrapped in a commingled glass and polypropylene fibre inside a plastic jacket, which exceeded our expectations. Safety and environment are on the top of Amtrol-Alfa’s priorities. As such, the manufacturing of the CoMet cylinder has no dangerous emissions to the environment, in comparison with thermoset traditional processes, and uses inert products such as PP and HDPE. Regarding recyclability, the steel can be reprocessed, the commingled fibres can be chopped and used in injection processes, including the HDPE exterior jacket that can also be chopped and re-injected. The use of only recyclable products contributes to a better environment. The design was thoroughly studied, so that the handling is less aggressive to the costumer. The cylinder exterior is also very important, not only because the new design may look more ergonomic and elegant, but also because it is cleaner and safer. CoMet lightweight cylinder integrates in one cylinder, the Past and the Future, the Proven and the Innovation, in an elegant compromise.

Abstract An EHC (electrically heated catalyst) of a four stroke motorcycle engine with heat storing material was used to investigate the effect of input energy on the carbon monoxide (CO) conversion efficiency after cold start. The factors studied included the length of the heat storing material, heating temperature and pre-heating time. The stainless steel heat storing material was 15 mm wide and 0.3 mm deep and was installed at the inlet and mid-section of the catalyst. The settings of the parameters were heat storing material lengths of 30 and 60 cm, pre-heating time of 5, 15 and 25 s, a CO setting level of 1.3% and 1.8% and a heating temperature of 140, 180 and 220 °C. It was revealed that for the shorter heat storing material, better conversion efficiency was attained when heating at the inlet. Heating at the mid-section of the catalyst with the same length of heat storing material resulted in less energy stored, quicker heat dissipation and more frequent re-heating required. In contrast, with a longer heat storing material, the temperature rise was more gradual and more heat was absorbed, resulting in a more stable overall temperature development. It was further showed that under the same input energy, the shorter heat storing material provided a higher CO conversion efficiency than the longer material. Further, a threshold total input energy for achieving a CO conversion efficiency above 65% was found to be 100 kJ.

AbstractSolid‐state cooling is an environmentally friendly, no global warming potential alternative to vapor compression‐based systems. Elastocaloric cooling based on NiTi shape memory alloys exhibits excellent cooling capabilities. Due to the high specific latent heats activated by mechanical loading/unloading, large temperature changes can be generated in the material. The small required work input enables a high coefficient of performance. An overview of elastocaloric cooling from basic principles, such as elastocaloric cooling cycles, material characterization, modeling, and optimization, to the design of elastocaloric cooling devices is presented. Current work performed within the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) Priority Program SPP 1599 “Ferroic Cooling”, which is focused on the development and realization of a continuously operating elastocaloric cooling device, is highlighted. The cooling device operates in a rotatory mode with wires under tensile loading. The design allows maximization of cooling power by suitable wire diameter scaling as well as efficiency optimization by implementing a novel drive concept. Finally, computer‐aided design (CAD) models of the discussed solid‐state air cooling device are presented.

Materials and technologies applied in the manufacture of equipment and the installation of wind-diesel power generation systems operating in harsh climatic conditions, including those in northern regions, are considered.

Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) with different coefficients of closure are considered. The 66.2% coefficient of closure achieved in "BIOS-3" facility experiments has been taken as a base value. The increase in coefficient of closure up to 72.6-93.0% is planned due to use of soil-like substrate (SLS) and concentrating of urine. Food values were estimated both in a base variant ("BIOS-3"), and with increases in the coefficient of closure. It is shown that food requirements will be more fully satisfied by internal crop production with an increase in the coefficient of closure of the BLSS. Changes of massflow rates on an 'input-output' and inside BLSS are considered. Equations of synthesis and degradation of organic substances in BLSS were examined using a stoichiometric model. The paper shows that at incomplete closure of BLSS containing SLS there is a problem of nitrogen balancing. To compensate for the removal of nitrogen from the system in urine and feces, it is necessary to introduce food and a nitrogen-containing additive.