Development of a Computer-Aided Tool for System Description, Modeling, Analysis and Integration for Screening Planetary Habitation Alternatives

The objective of this work is to develop a computer-aided tool that enables the development, screening, modeling, analysis, and integration of physico-chemical and bio-regenerative components of Advanced Life Support System (ALS) system. The tool has the following four main components that are interrelated and automatically integrated:

• Process configuration. Particular emphasis is given to food production (e.g., syrup and flour from sweet potato, starch from sweet potato, breakfast cereal from sweet potato).
• Modeling and analysis for mass and energy tracking and budgeting
• System integration (both functional as well material and energy integration)
• Metrics evaluation (e.g., Equivalent System Mass (ESM))

Modeling and analysis is achieved by developing material- and energy-budgeting models. Various forms of mass and energy are tracked through fundamental as well as semi-empirical models. These models include kinetics, mass transfer, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics. Mass and energy integration techniques are used to determine functional integration as well as conservation of mass and energy. This is achieved by integrating functionalities and streams (e.g., exchanging heat from hot to cold streams, recycling/reusing streams to minimize usage of fresh resources and maximize waste utilization, etc.). Various system alternatives are synthesized and screened using ESM and other metrics.