growing food for space and earth · 2015-08-19 · as we explore sustainable living for space, we...
TRANSCRIPT
Growing Food for Space and
Earth:NASA’s Contributions to Vertical Agriculture
Raymond M. Wheeler
NASA Exploration Research and Technology Directorate
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
American Society of Horticultural Science
Aug. 4-7, 2015
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150015991 2020-07-05T16:51:02+00:00Z
food
(CH2O) + O2 CO2 + H2O
Clean Water Waste Water
Plants for “Bioregenerative” Life Support
HUMANSMetabolic
Energy
food
(CH2O) + O2*+ H2O CO2 + 2H2O*
Clean Water Waste Water
PLANTS
Light
NASA’s Bioregenerative Life Support Testing
1980 1990 2000
CELSS Program ALS / ELS Program
Algae Closed Systems Salad Machine
Wheat (Utah State)
Purdue
NSCORT
Potato (Wisconsin)
Lettuce (Purdue)
Soybean (NC State)
Sweetpotato / Peanut (Tuskegee)
Uni
vers
ities
Rutgers
NSCORT
Ames
Kennedy Large, Closed System NFT Lighting Waste Recycling Salad spp. Space Expmts.
Solid Media Pressure Human / IntegrationJohnson
N-Nutrition (UC Davis)
Gas Exch. / Ethylene (Utah State)
Purdue
NSCORT
MIR Wheat Studies
STS-73
Potato
Leaves
BIO-PlexNever
Completed
Biomass Production Chamber
Alliums (Texas Tech)
Hypobaria (TAMU)
ISS Mizuna
3
ISS Wheat
Lunar Grnhse (U AZ)
Crop Considerations for Space
• High yielding and nutritious (CHO, protein, fat)
• High harvest index (edible / total biomass)
• Horticultural considerations
– planting, watering, harvesting, pollination, propagation
• Environmental considerations
– lighting, temperature, mineral nutrition, CO2
• Processing requirements
• Dwarf or low growing types
Recirculating Hydroponics with Crops
Conserve Water & Nutrients
Eliminate Water Stress
Optimize Mineral Nutrition
Facilitate HarvestingWheat / Utah State
Soybean
KSC
Sweetpotato
Tuskegee
Rice / Purdue
Wheeler et al., 1999. Acta Hort.
Root Zone Crops
in Nutrient Film
Technique
(NFT)
Wheeler et al., 1990. Amer. Potato J. 67:177-187; Mackowiak et al. 1998. HortScience 33:650-651
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 20 40 60 80 100
Days After Planting
Wat
er U
se (
L m
-2d
-1)
Second Study865 mol m-2 s-1 PAR
First Study655 mol m-2 s-1 PAR
Fig. 7
Evapotranspiration from Plant Stand (potato)
Wheeler. 2006. Potato Research 49:67-90.
Water, Nutrient, and pH Control
Wheeler et al. 1999. Acta Hort.
High Yields from High Light and CO2 Enrichment
Wheat - 3-4 x World Record
Potato - 2 x World Record
Lettuce-Exceeded Commercial
Yield Models
Utah State
Univ.
Wisconsin Biotron
NASA Kennedy
Space Center
Bubgee, B.G. and F.B. Salisbury. 1988. Plant Physiol. 88:869-878.
Wheeler, R.M., T.W. Tibbitts, A.H. Fitzpatrick. 1991. Crop Science 31:1209-1213.
Potential Energy Conversion to Biomass
From Loomis and Williams. 1963. Crop Science 3:67-72
Assuming a maximum 12% conversion efficiency from PAR to biomass1
1.6 g dry mass / mol PAR
1 Radmer and Kok. 1977. BioScience. Actual instantaneous conversion efficiencies
of ~10% reported from some controlled environment studies ; e.g., Wheeler et al., 1993.
Crop Sci.; Gerbaud et al., 1998. Physiol. Plant.
Some Upper Limits to Energy Conversion and Productivity
Field Crops Observations1
Crop Productivity Photosynthetic Energy
Conversion Efficiency 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(g DM m-2 d-1) (%)
Tall Fescue 43 7.0 (UK)
Maize 40 6.8 (US)
Sudan Grass 52 6.0 (US)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CEA NASA Studies
Crop Productivity Radiation Use Efficiency
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(g DM m-2 d-1) ( g DM mol-1 PAR)
Wheat 61 1.44 Utah State3
130 0.67 Utah State4
Potato (12⇨24 h photoper.) 45 0.97 Univ. Wisc.5
(12 h photoper. only) 38 1.15 Univ. Wisc.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 D.O. Hall. 1976. FEBS Letters2 Original data based on total solar irradiance; table data reflect efficiency based on PAR (400-700 nm)3 Monje and Bugbee. 1998. Plant Cell Environ (estimated) 4 Bugbee and Salisbury. 1988. Plant Physiol.5 From Wheeler, 2006. Potato Res. (assumes transplanting to increase PAR absorption).
Closed Systems Issues
NASA Ames
Research Center
NASA Johnson
Space Center
Purdue
Univ.
NASA
KSC
Canopy CO2 Uptake / O2 Production(20 m2 Soybean Stand)
Wheeler. 1996. In: H. Suge (ed.) Plants in Space Biology.
CO2 Exchange Rates of Soybean Stands
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (days)
CO
2E
xchange R
ate
(µ
mol m
-2s
-1)
Photosynthesis
Night Respiration
815 µmol m-2 s-1
HPS Lamps
477 µmol m-2 s-1
MH Lamps
Canopy Lodged
Harvest
High Temp
Event
14
Wheeler et al., 2004. EcoEngineering.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
CO2 (mol mol-1)
CO
2E
xchange R
ate
(
mol m
-2s
-1)
CO
2C
om
pe
nsa
tion
Po
int
Fig. 6
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
90 100 110 120 130 140 150
CO2 Compensation Point
y = 0.15 x - 14.6
R2 = 0.99
CO2 (mol mol-1)
CO
2 E
x.
(m
ol m
-2 s
-1)
(97)
Effect of CO2 Concentration on Photosynthesis (potato)
Similar results for
wheat and soybean
Optimal Concentration
Wheeler. 2006. Potato Research 49:67-90.
Canopy / Stand Ethylene Production
Wheeler et al. 2004. HortScience 39:1541-1545.
Ethylene Production - Tomato cv. Reimann Philipp
0
100
200
300
400
500
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Time (days)
Eth
yle
ne
(p
pb
)
Light Cycle
Dark Cycle
Harv
ests
Wheeler et al. 2004. HortScience 39:1541-1545.
Ethylene in Closed Systems
Epinastic
Potato Leaves
at ~40 ppb
Epinastic
Wheat Leaves
at ~120 ppb
NASA’s Biomass Production Chamber (BPC)An Attempt at Vertical Agriculture !
Control Room
External View - Back
Hydroponic System
20 m2 growing area; 113 m3 vol.; 96 400-W HPS Lamps;
400 m3 min-1 air circulation; two 52-kW chillers
NASA’s Biomass Production Chamber (BPC)
Wheat(Triticum aestivum)
planting
harvest
Soybean(Glycine max)
Lettuce(Lactuca sativa)
Potato(Solanum tuberosum)
Automation
Technologies
for CEA
ALSARM Robot in NASA
Biomass Production Chamber
25
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (mol m-2 d-1)
Cro
p Y
ield
(g m
-2d
-1)
Total
Biomass
Edible
Biomass
Studies
Include:
Wheat (4)
Soybean (4)
Potato (4)
Lettuce (3)
Tomato(2)
Effect of Light on Crop Yield
Wheeler et al. 1996. Adv. Space Res .
Electrical Power for BPC
• 96 400-W HPS lamps with dimming ballasts
• Two 30 kW blowers (400 m3 min-1)
• Two 15-ton (52 kW) chillers for cooling
• 100 kW water heater for air re-heat
→ Not designed for energy efficiency!!
The Importance of Lighting--Electric Lamp Options
Lamp Type Conversion* Lamp Life* Spectrum
Efficiency (hrs)
• Incandescent/Tungsten** 5-10% 2000 Intermd.
• Xenon 5-10% 2000 Broad
• Fluorescent*** 20% 5,000-20,000 Broad
• Metal Halide 25% 20,000 Broad
• High Pressure Sodium 30% 25,000 Intermd.
• Low Pressure Sodium 35% 25,000 Narrow
• Microwave Sulfur 35-40%+ ? Broad
• LEDs (red and blue)**** >40% 100,000 ? Narrow
* Approximate values.
** Tungsten halogen lamps have broader spectrum.
*** For VHO lamps; lower power lamps with electronic ballasts last up to ~20,000 hrs.
**** State-of-Art Blue and Red LEDs most efficient.
LED Studies
Red...photosynthesis
Blue...photomorphogenesis
Green...human vision
Some NASA Related References:
Bula et al. 1991. HortSci 26:203-205.
Barta et al. 1992. Adv. Space Res.
12(5):141-149.
Tennessen et al. 1994. Photosyn. Res.
39:85-92.
Goins et al. 1997. J. Exp. Botany
48:1407-1413.
Kim et al. 2004. Ann. Bot. 94:691-697.
Solar Collector / Fiber Optics For Plant Lighting
2 m2 of collectors on solar
tracking drive (SLSL Bldg, NASA KSC)
Up to 400 W light delivered to chamber
(40-50% of incident light)
Takashi Nakamura, Physical Sciences Inc.
30
Nakamura et al. 2010. Habitation
Human Habitats and
Crops for
Supplemental Food
Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) Test 2011
HDU Test 2012
NASA’s HDU at Desert Test Site
Plant Atrium
or Growing
Shelf
Plant Growth on the International Space
Station—VEGGIE Plant Chamber.
32
Some Lessons Learned from NASA
CEA / Vertical Ag work
• Over half of maintenance / upkeep time dedicated to nutrient system
management
– If condensate water is retrieved, pay attention to elemental content
• Extensive work for optimizing hydroponic solution replenishment
recipes
– We made no attempts to reduce nitrate in tissue
• Consider ability to reach all sections of the growing area; it was not
easy for use to inspect the back of our trays; consider shelf-to-shelf
height
• Initially we sanitized hydroponic hardware following crops, but later
abandoned in favor of thorough cleaning
• Consider innovative means for improving energy efficiency, e.g., if
possible use heat from lamps and power supplies for air “re-heat”
• Worker safety—consider sunglasses for working around bright red and
blue LEDs 33
Agriculture in Space
As we explore sustainable living for space, we will
learn more about sustainable living on Earth
34
KSC Advanced Life Support Team, Hangar L, KSC 1994