Patents Assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Administratior of NASA
  • Patent number: 11891321
    Abstract: A modular system for waste treatment, water recycling, and resource recovery includes a buffer tank to receive and pre-treat raw organic waste, at least one reactor tank configured as an anaerobic bioreactor that receives and digests pre-treated waste from the buffer tank, a membrane module having a membrane configured to filter waste from the digested waste from the at least one reactor tank to produce a permeate, a permeate collection tank configured to collect and store the permeate generated by the membrane module, a pump system having a plurality of pumps, and a control system configured to monitor the flow of waste and to control the pump system to control the flow of waste between the buffer tank, the at least one reactor tank, the membrane module, and the permeate collection tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignees: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATIOR OF NASA
    Inventors: Daniel H. Yeh, Luke Roberson, Talon Bullard, Melanie Pickett, Robert Bair, Ahmet Erkan Uman
  • Patent number: 10281430
    Abstract: Various embodiments provide methods to identify and characterize remote objects by use of electric charge distributions generated by charge tunneling, charge injection, and charge induction. Various embodiments may use selective electrostatic charging to change the electrostatic potential throughout volumes for identification and characterization. In various embodiments, objects of interest may be selectively charged by tunneling, injection, and induction of electrical charges or free carriers. Tunneled, injected, and induced charges may migrate to sites or locations internal to volumes to yield electrostatic potential differences and electrostatic fields. In various embodiments, variations in the electrostatic potential created by the presence of the tunneled, injected, and induced charges may be quantitatively measured to identify and characterize remote objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administratior of NASA
    Inventor: Edward R. Generazio