(311d) Biomanufacturing in Space: New Concepts and Paradigms for Process Design

One of the main challenges in current space missions is the development of sustainable, circular processes that reduce the need for the resupply missions required to support life in space [1]. According to the International Space Station (ISS) Program, 60% of its annual budget ($1.8 billion) is used to cover transportation of crew and cargo costs, making this the most expensive element of the program [2]. Efforts in developing low-cost space manufacturing processes that enable on-site production of essential chemicals have been made to reduce the need for resupply missions. In this regard, in-situ resource utilization has been considered an important alternative to develop circular systems capable of manufacturing their essential items [3]. In situ utilization allows the on-demand production of value-added chemicals and materials for the construction, maintenance, and repair of mission systems [4]. In addition, it has been considered a fundamental element in biomanufacturing processes. Biomanufacturing is a promising approach to support sustainable and circular systems for space exploration [5]. These systems rely on the use of biological systems that are engineered to produce and manufacture value-added products and objects on demand. This makes biomanufacturing a convenient alternative to design systems in remote locations or where supply chains for consumables cannot operate reliably [6].

Designing a space biomanufacturing system is challenging, due to tight mass transportation limitations and because diverse disturbances can influence performance. For instance, the fermentation process, which is the core of the biomanufacturing process can be strongly affected by storage conditions, gravity, and radiation, which in turn can affect the performance and survival of microorganisms employed to produce value-added products. In this regard, the design of the biomanufacturing systems needs to consider those disturbances to produce the materials required. Moreover, the design needs to take into consideration the mass and size of all materials, energy, and inputs needed for operating such systems. This is because the cost of installing and operating biomanufacturing systems in space depends strongly on the cost of transporting the system components, which is directly proportional to their mass. Similar issues arise in the design of small modular processes, because the size/mass of modules is constrained by transportation logistics.

The emphasis on mass/resource constraints requires a new paradigm for process design. Specifically, the traditional paradigm for process design is objective-driven, in the sense that the system is engineered to maximize/minimize specific performance goals. However, when designing a system in space, the mass of the system is a critical factor that takes priority, due to strict limitations of transportation and resources. As such, the design of space systems is constraint-driven. In this work, we present a computational design framework for biomanufacturing systems that combines Equivalent Systems Mass (ESM) analysis, process integration concepts, and optimization formulations. ESM is a techniques that aims to measure physical resources (power, cooling, substrates, and equipment) using unifying metric (mass) [7]. EMS can reveal hidden and interesting of process components; for instance, mass constraints limit the type of energy vectors used. Our process integration and optimization approach captures the interdependencies of the system components and formulates the sizing/selection of components as a mixed-integer program that explicitly captures mass constraint budgets. We use the proposed framework to evaluate the design of space biomanufacturing systems to produce lactic acid. Lactic acid a valuable platform chemical [8]; specifically, lactic acid can be transformed into polylactic acid, a biodegradable polymer with applications in the production of packaging and new components through 3D printing, which is convenient in space missions [9]. Our case study aims to evaluate different configurations for the design of biomanufacturing systems in space to identify the specific components of the system that are responsible for the highest mass impacts.

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