A urease bioreactor for water reclamation aboard manned spacecraft

Development of a fixed bed continuous flow bioreactor, utilizing urease immobilized on diatomaceous earth, for decomposition of aqueous urea in a spacecraft closed loop environmental life support system is described. The results of small scale bioreactor experiments investigating the effects of throughput, temperature, pH and conductivity are reported. The design and performance of a full scale bioreactor are also presented.