World's first biobricks grown from human urine

Void · 2018-10-26 19:33:53

Moderators, I searched for the topic biobrick, and did not get hits. However if you have a place to move this then please do.

https://phys.org/news/2018-10-world-bio … urine.html

Quote:

The world's first bio-brick grown from human urine has been unveiled by University of Cape Town (UCT) master's student in civil engineering Suzanne Lambert, signalling an innovative paradigm shift in waste recovery.
The bio-bricks are created through a natural process called microbial carbonate precipitation. It's not unlike the way seashells are formed, said Lambert's supervisor Dr. Dyllon Randall, a senior lecturer in water quality engineering.
In this case, loose sand is colonised with bacteria that produce urease. An enzyme, the urease breaks down the urea in urine while producing calcium carbonate through a complex chemical reaction. This cements the sand into any shape, whether it's a solid column, or now, for the first time, a rectangular building brick.
For the past few months Lambert and civil engineering honours student Vukheta Mukhari have been hard at work in the laboratory testing various bio-brick shapes and tensile strengths to produce an innovative building material. Mukhari is being co-supervised by Professor Hans Beushausen, also from the civil engineering department. Beushausen is helping to test the products.
The development is also good news for the environment and global warming as bio-bricks are made in moulds at room temperature. Regular bricks are kiln-fired at temperatures around 1 400°C and produce vast quantities of carbon dioxide.
The strength of the bio-bricks would depend on client needs.
"If a client wanted a brick stronger than a 40 percent limestone brick, you would allow the bacteria to make the solid stronger by 'growing' it for longer," said Randall.
"The longer you allow the little bacteria to make the cement, the stronger the product is going to be. We can optimise that process."
Foundational work
The concept of using urea to grow bricks was tested in the United States some years back using synthetic solutions, but Lambert's brick uses real human urine for the first time, with significant consequences for waste recycling and upcycling. Her work builds on foundational research by Jules Henze, a Swiss student who spent four months working with Randall on this concept in 2017.
"It's what I love about research. You build on the foundations of other work," said Randall.

That's probably good news for on Earth, but for Mars, I would hope synthetic Urea could be manufactured.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea

My understanding is that the process has two by products that can be used for plant fertilizer.

…..

Of course a brick can be used for many purposes. I have something in mind though.

Where I feel that a good place for many activities would be in tunnels under an ice covered reservoir, I did not know how to make the tailings from the Boring Company digging process into bricks to line the tunnels. Perhaps something like this. Mix the tailings with dune materials or fine regolith, add microbes and Urea.

My feeling is that in some cases the tunnels can be partially filled with water as a coolant, and to allow a process line of agricultural products. For instance duck weed. LED's could be fixed to bricks above that had already been formed with the needed attaching points.

As the tunnel overheated, you would exchange the warm water with cold water from overhead. The duckweed would be harvested at one end of the tunnel in a relatively continuous fashion.

Similarly, if you had floating planters you could do the same for terrestrial plants.

I know that many here prefer glass greenhouses on the surface, and I am not seeking to inhibit that.

……

Another way is to put flat expanded metal grates about 1/3 to the bottom. LED's attached to the bottom of the grates, plants on the bottom. But humans could inhabit the area above the grates. Getting excess heat out would involve a heat exchanger I suppose. And that would likely generate fresh water.

……

I like safe and secure. Bubbles on the surface that can easily spring a vacuum leak do not attract me much.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2018-10-26 19:44:41)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-09 09:19:01

The article at the link below is about making concrete on the Moon using urea.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/space-agency … 20275.html

The article seemed a good fit with this pre-existing topic.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-09 18:23:14

But are they doing the manufacturing for the materials in a vacuum as air is required for curing...

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-09 19:06:36

For SpaceNut re #3

Your question intrigued me, so I went back and read the article at the link marked by "study"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a … via%3Dihub

That link is a summary of the paper itself, which is followed by a significant number of citations.

The answer to your immediate question appears to be that the tests were all performed on Earth, in a normal Earth atmosphere.

In fact, considerable text was allocated to describing "air pockets" that were observed in materials produced in various experiments.

That said, I'm assuming that the "air pockets" the researchers saw on Earth would be "vacuum pockets" on the Moon, or anywhere in the Solar System where this research might be employed to create materials.

Beyond your immediate question, I'd like to point out that the paper includes a quick reference to the suitability of one particular approach for Mars.

I'm inviting a forum member who is curious to find and post it.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-09 19:07:30)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-09 19:59:18

Air of vacuum pockets means a weak point if to many are in the same area. To over come this a thicker wall would be created.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-10 07:30:47

For SpaceNut re #5 ....

Something to keep in mind is that honeycomb structures allow for great strength at minimum mass/weight.

I think (from scanning the study) that the researchers were concerned about the air pockets they observed, for the reason you gave. I'd have to go back to read more slowly, but I ** think ** the intention in reporting the air pockets problem was to try to find ways to prevent or minimize them.

Pressure is a time tested way of removing air pockets from material, but then the volume is reduced (of course). This would NOT be a good idea if you are trying to make honeycomb structures.

On the ** other ** hand, ** this ** topic was set up to discuss bricks, so application of pressure would seem to be a reasonable practice.

(th)

louis · 2020-05-10 10:17:46

Maybe I'm missing something -what's the problem with manufacturing the bricks in a dedicated pressurised facility on Mars?

SpaceNut · 2020-05-10 10:39:29

Then what keeps the bricks together when building in a vacuum and they see pressure from the creation of a chamber with them? Second they will not cure in a vacuum as they need an atmosphere. Any mixture in a vacuum made with water will sublime away leaving the fine mixture still in a none reacted form.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-10 10:50:35

For SpaceNut re #8

This is a great opportunity for members of the forum to collect all that is known about making bricks in vacuum. There can't be much << grin >>

The ONLY research that would make sense is any that might have been done on the ISS or (perhaps) the Chinese space station. I don't recall reading that the Russians experimented with that on MIR, but they were up there for a number of years and might easily have run experiments.

Other possibilities for actual on site research may have been done in satellite experiment packages.

***
For Louis .... for the Mars forum, this topic has zigged a bit, to consider making bricks on the Moon, using human urine as a binding agent.

SpaceNut has raised doubt about the effectiveness of the proposed binding method in a vacuum, and (as far as I know) the experiment has NOT been done, so the opportunity is "out there" for a highly motivated (probably young) person to find out.

For Louis ... the paper to which the article that SpaceNut showed us contains a hint of a possible procedure for Mars.

I'd be interested in your evaluation of that brief mention.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2022-04-23 09:10:08

New, proposed "space bricks" would mix Martian dirt, urea and bacteria.

Mars_B4_Moon wrote:

Building a home on Mars … with bacteria?
https://www.space.com/building-mars-hab … h-bacteria

New Mars Forums

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#1 2018-10-26 19:33:53

World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#2 2020-05-09 09:19:01

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#3 2020-05-09 18:23:14

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#4 2020-05-09 19:06:36

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#5 2020-05-09 19:59:18

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#6 2020-05-10 07:30:47

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#7 2020-05-10 10:17:46

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#8 2020-05-10 10:39:29

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#9 2020-05-10 10:50:35

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

#10 2022-04-23 09:10:08

Re: World's first biobricks grown from human urine

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