Nuclear food cycle - Revision history

Michel Lamontagne: /* Energy analysis */

2023-08-14T20:03:14Z

Energy analysis

Michel Lamontagne: /* Energy analysis */

2021-06-03T15:51:15Z

Energy analysis

Michel Lamontagne: /* Energy analysis */

2021-06-03T15:48:16Z

Energy analysis

Multivac: /* Further analysis */

2020-07-27T12:48:37Z

Further analysis

Multivac: Created page with "The nuclear food cycle is a hypothetical food cycle based upon methanotrophs which are fed on methanol produced in Nuclear_power|nuclear..."

2020-07-27T12:36:05Z

Created page with "The nuclear food cycle is a hypothetical food cycle based upon methanotrophs which are fed on methanol produced in Nuclear_power|nuclear..."

New page

The nuclear [[food]] cycle is a hypothetical food cycle based upon [[Bioreactor#Methanotrophs|methanotrophs]] which are fed on [[methanol]] produced in [[Nuclear_power|nuclear]] powered [[Sabatier_process|sabatier]] reactors, which are in turn fed on [[syngas]] produced from nuclear powered Zinc/Sulfur/Iodine<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.11.049</ref> reactors. Another product produced by the Zn/S/I reactor is breathable [[oxygen|O2]]. This then forms a loop, where people eat the methanotrophs, producing [[Carbon_dioxide|CO2]] and [[Hydrogen|H2O]] through their metabolism, which are extracted via [[atmospheric processing]] and [[Potable_water_treatment|water recycling]], processed to produce [[methanol]] which is then fed back to the methanotrophs to grow more food.
== Energy analysis ==
This analysis assumes that nutrients ([[nitrogen]], [[sulfur]], [[phosphorus]], etc.) are entirely recycled, in practice due to imperfect recycling or colony growth, small amounts of additional nutrients would need to be added periodically from [[mining]], [[atmospheric processing]], etc.

The growth yields of methanotrophs varies considerably<ref>http://methanotroph.org/wiki/performance-and-yield/</ref><ref>https://www.che.psu.edu/faculty/wood/group/publications/pdf/Assessing%20methanotrophy%20and%20carbon%20fixation%20M.%20a.%20Microb%20Cell%20Factor%202016%20Maranas.pdf</ref><ref>https://www.doi.org/10.1007/BF02346062</ref>, but somewhere around 10-40% of the methanol used ends up as cellular mass. Methanol has an energy density of 15.6 MJ/L and a density of 792g/L<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol</ref>. That works out to be 20 KJ per gram of methanol. Taking 20% yield as an approximation, that leads to 100KJ/g of cell mass assuming the methanol production process is 100% efficient.

From animal studies, the nutritional value of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylococcus_capsulatus|''Methylococcus capsulatus''] is 8.96 MJ/kg<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/animal-feed_additives_rules_scan-old_report_other-23.pdf</ref>, making the cycle 8.9% efficient at converting thermal energy into nutritional energy.

1kg of 235U contains 8.64×1013 joules of energy. The average adult needs approximately 8700kj/day. That means that 1kg uranium could be converted to approximately 850,000 person days of food. Assuming that a molten salt [[Nuclear_power|reactor]] that can almost completely consume its nuclear fuel is utilized. In other words, feeding a person using the nuclear food cycle requires approximately an extra 1kwth per person.

== Further analysis ==
* The actual growth media is going to be [[Waste_biomass_recycling|recycled biomass]], which may contain undigested food or more complex proteins that require additional energy for catabolism.
* The actual efficiency of small [[Sabatier_process|sabatier]] or Zn/S/I reactors is currently unknown

==References==
<references />

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 From animal studies, the nutritional value of ''[[w:Methylococcus_capsulatus|Methylococcus capsulatus]]'' is 8.96 MJ/kg<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/animal-feed_additives_rules_scan-old_report_other-23.pdf</ref>, making the cycle 8.9% efficient at converting thermal energy into nutritional energy. (about 7% with the methanol conversion efficiency).
-The bacteria would probably be used as animal feed, reducing somewhat the energy efficiency of the process.
+The bacteria would probably be used as animal feed, reducing significantly the energy efficiency of the process, as the feed conversion ratio for meat is less than one.
 kg of <sup>235</sup>U contains 8.64×10<sup>13</sup> joules of energy. The average adult needs approximately 8700kj/day. That means that 1kg uranium could be converted to approximately 850,000 person days of food.  Assuming that a molten salt [[Nuclear_power|reactor]] that can almost completely consume its nuclear fuel is utilized. In other words, feeding a person using the nuclear food cycle requires approximately an extra 1kw<sub>th</sub> per person.

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:51, 3 June 2021
Line 8:		Line 8:

	From animal studies, the nutritional value of ''[[w:Methylococcus_capsulatus\|Methylococcus capsulatus]]'' is 8.96 MJ/kg<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/animal-feed_additives_rules_scan-old_report_other-23.pdf</ref>, making the cycle 8.9% efficient at converting thermal energy into nutritional energy. (about 7% with the methanol conversion efficiency).		From animal studies, the nutritional value of ''[[w:Methylococcus_capsulatus\|Methylococcus capsulatus]]'' is 8.96 MJ/kg<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/animal-feed_additives_rules_scan-old_report_other-23.pdf</ref>, making the cycle 8.9% efficient at converting thermal energy into nutritional energy. (about 7% with the methanol conversion efficiency).
		+
		+	The bacteria would probably be used as animal feed, reducing somewhat the energy efficiency of the process.

	1kg of <sup>235</sup>U contains 8.64×10<sup>13</sup> joules of energy. The average adult needs approximately 8700kj/day. That means that 1kg uranium could be converted to approximately 850,000 person days of food. Assuming that a molten salt [[Nuclear_power\|reactor]] that can almost completely consume its nuclear fuel is utilized. In other words, feeding a person using the nuclear food cycle requires approximately an extra 1kw<sub>th</sub> per person.		1kg of <sup>235</sup>U contains 8.64×10<sup>13</sup> joules of energy. The average adult needs approximately 8700kj/day. That means that 1kg uranium could be converted to approximately 850,000 person days of food. Assuming that a molten salt [[Nuclear_power\|reactor]] that can almost completely consume its nuclear fuel is utilized. In other words, feeding a person using the nuclear food cycle requires approximately an extra 1kw<sub>th</sub> per person.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The nuclear [[food]] cycle is a hypothetical food cycle based upon [[Bioreactor#Methanotrophs|methanotrophs]] which are fed on [[methanol]] produced in [[Nuclear_power|nuclear]] powered [[Sabatier_process|sabatier]] reactors, which are in turn fed on [[syngas]] produced from nuclear powered Zinc/Sulfur/Iodine<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.11.049</ref> reactors. Another product produced by the Zn/S/I reactor is breathable [[oxygen|O<sub>2</sub>]]. This then forms a loop, where people eat the methanotrophs, producing [[Carbon_dioxide|CO<sub>2</sub>]] and [[Hydrogen|H<sub>2</sub>O]] through their metabolism, which are extracted via [[atmospheric processing]] and [[Potable_water_treatment|water recycling]], processed to produce [[methanol]] which is then fed back to the methanotrophs to grow more food.
-== Energy analysis ==
+==Energy analysis==
 This analysis assumes that nutrients ([[nitrogen]], [[sulfur]], [[phosphorus]], etc.) are entirely recycled, in practice due to imperfect recycling or colony growth, small amounts of additional nutrients would need to be added periodically from [[mining]], [[atmospheric processing]], etc.
 The growth yields of methanotrophs varies considerably<ref>http://methanotroph.org/wiki/performance-and-yield/</ref><ref>https://www.che.psu.edu/faculty/wood/group/publications/pdf/Assessing%20methanotrophy%20and%20carbon%20fixation%20M.%20a.%20Microb%20Cell%20Factor%202016%20Maranas.pdf</ref><ref>https://www.doi.org/10.1007/BF02346062</ref>, but somewhere around 10-40% of the methanol used ends up as cellular mass. Methanol has an energy density of 15.6 MJ/L and a density of 792g/L<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol</ref>. That works out to be 20 KJ per gram of methanol. Taking 20% yield as an approximation, that leads to 100KJ/g of cell mass assuming the methanol production process is 100% efficient.
-From animal studies, the nutritional value of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylococcus_capsulatus|''Methylococcus capsulatus''] is 8.96 MJ/kg<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/animal-feed_additives_rules_scan-old_report_other-23.pdf</ref>, making the cycle 8.9% efficient at converting thermal energy into nutritional energy.
+As methanol production is at best 70% efficient in the current state of things, the yield might correspond to about 140 MJ/kg (to be verified).
 kg of <sup>235</sup>U contains 8.64×10<sup>13</sup> joules of energy. The average adult needs approximately 8700kj/day. That means that 1kg uranium could be converted to approximately 850,000 person days of food.  Assuming that a molten salt [[Nuclear_power|reactor]] that can almost completely consume its nuclear fuel is utilized. In other words, feeding a person using the nuclear food cycle requires approximately an extra 1kw<sub>th</sub> per person.
-== Further analysis ==
+==Further analysis==
 * The actual growth media is going to be [[Waste_biomass_recycling|recycled biomass]], which may contain undigested food or more complex proteins that require additional energy for catabolism.
-* The actual efficiency of small [[Sabatier_process|sabatier]] or Zn/S/I reactors is currently unknown.
+*The actual growth media is going to be [[Waste_biomass_recycling|recycled biomass]], which may contain undigested food or more complex proteins that require additional energy for catabolism.
-* Radiotrophic fungi have been observed<ref>https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tfg/2014/126266/TFG_danielantoniovazquezsanchez.pdf</ref>, which may be able to more directly exploit nuclear energy.
+*The actual efficiency of small [[Sabatier_process|sabatier]] or Zn/S/I reactors is currently unknown.
 ==References==
 <references />