1993 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 21-27
To design closed ecological life support systems (CELSS), several methods to check whether the values of steady-state mass circulation fluxes are correctly assigned are considered. The method in which one examines whether steady-state mass balances are zero in simultaneous first-order differential equations promises easy understanding of the arrangement of incoming and outgoing fluxes but is disadvantageous to the storage of the steady-state flux data. To reduce this disadvantage, two similar types of methods that make possible more compact storage of the data are proposed. With respect to intuitive understanding of the flux arrangement, however, these may be somewhat inferior to the previous method. In conclusion, the authors recommend that one carries out appropriate selection according to the situation; thus, it is meaningful to develop a computer software that can satisfy this demand. In addition, the method in which one checks whether the determinant value of the dependent variable matrix generated as a result of tranformation of the differential mass balance equations to the power-law types is equal to zero is also useful. As an example of application, the proposed methods are used to check and modify the steady-state flux data for the water circulation system in the habitat module of Biosphere-J.
