Does this exist in space stations(auto bathroom fans. Smell and steam?)

[Arugela]

Maybe not yet, but I assume if space travel becomes domestic this might be needed in some form. Not sure if it exists in space yet? I would thing anything capable of dealing with this area  would be a godsend to space missions.

 

https://hackaday.com/2012/11/19/bathroom-fan-that-switches-itself-on-when-it-gets-steamy-or-smelly/

I'm also looking for similar for my bathroom.

I like the idea of all of the different ideas together. A sensor detecting and turning the fan on when you are on the toilet. Either pressure sensor or a distance sensor that turns on at a certain distance(would this need to be different for a closed environment in space?), A methane or other sensor in the fan itself that might take longer to detect. This would be for steam and smells, a delayed timer to keep it running longer, and an auto flip at the switch for manual.

Since a normal bathroom would be a pain to install pressure sensor without an expensive toilet and wiring I would go with a distance sensor that auto turns on anytime something trips it at a certain distance where your knees, bodymass, or similar should be above the toilet(preferably from the fan to save wiring.). I would assume these would be different in a space setting where you have expensive stuff and probably easier access to wires. Unless the electrical system is tight. I would imagine a pretty fancy one would be ideal to meet the unique circumstances.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Arugela

[Jurassic kerbal]

That makes sense or atleast to me

[Arugela]

Could space toilets use circulation? I'm not sure how their air systems work. Or would they just short run it through a vent/filter system as fast as possible. Do they have system wide air flow systems or is it cabin to cabin?

I wonder if they have to be careful about over pulling air between location for safety reasons.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Arugela

[cubinator]

The toilets have fans that generally direct the air inward, and vacuums to keep stuff contained.

[tater]

They turn the ISS toilet on before use to suck everything (including smells) in.

 

[Arugela]

Why have they not yet made a toilet pod where you go inside, it closes and then it has a full japanese toilet in it with all the fixins. They could even artificually do gravity with a mix of suction or something. Not sure how much power/resources they have up there though. Or just what they have with some nicer variations and privacy.

You could solve some of the problems by using a butt vaccum to keep you planted to the seat. Then you only need gravity like things in the hole/cavity of the toilet. Not sure how to implement the bidet functions though.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Arugela

[kerbiloid]

The real professionals keep it simple.

Spoiler

 

(38:35)

[cubinator]

42 minutes ago, Arugela said:

Why have they not yet made a toilet pod where you go inside, it closes and then it has a full japanese toilet in it with all the fixins. They could even artificually do gravity with a mix of suction or something. Not sure how much power/resources they have up there though. Or just what they have with some nicer variations and privacy.

You could solve some of the problems by using a butt vaccum to keep you planted to the seat. Then you only need gravity like things in the hole/cavity of the toilet. Not sure how to implement the bidet functions though.

It takes a lot of water to have all the fixings. Maybe a new space station could build a toilet or shower pod, but it's not really available on the ISS.

[kerbiloid]

Moon. The cat's paradise.
The jumps are six times higher, and a whole lot of sand around.

[Nuke]

seems you would want negative pressure ventilation in the lavatory. negative relative to the inside of the station, not the outside, that would be rather hard. 

Edited June 13, 2021 by Nuke

[mikegarrison]

If it gets too bad in there, they just open the window.

[kerbiloid]

Or make some vent holes. It workd on ISS, why shouldn't elsewhere?

[YNM]

AFAIK Space stations generally requires good circulation anyway, since convection doesn't really happen like down here. So if there're any circulation fans up there they're working 24/7/365.

[mikegarrison]

3 hours ago, YNM said:

AFAIK Space stations generally requires good circulation anyway, since convection doesn't really happen like down here. So if there're any circulation fans up there they're working 24/7/365.

This is true. Noise from the ECS is a big deal. I knew somebody from our airplane noise group who helped work on noise control for one of the ISS modules.

(I guess I'm not certain they call it "ECS" -- environmental control system -- on the ISS. It's what we call it on airplanes, though.)

Edited June 14, 2021 by mikegarrison

[wumpus]

14 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

This is true. Noise from the ECS is a big deal. I knew somebody from our airplane noise group who helped work on noise control for one of the ISS modules.

(I guess I'm not certain they call it "ECS" -- environmental control system -- on the ISS. It's what we call it on airplanes, though.)

I've heard that's all you hear on ISS: the drone of dozens if not hundreds of fans.  Since there is no convection, every heat emitting bit of electronics (i.e. everything that consumes measurable power) needs a fan.  They add up.

[YNM]

33 minutes ago, wumpus said:

Since there is no convection, every heat emitting bit of electronics (i.e. everything that consumes measurable power) needs a fan.  They add up.

Plus it'd be a bad thing if certain gasses only concentrate in certain locations - other than that you wouldn't see it being detected by the central monitoring (do they have it on every module or is it just one for the whole station ?) since no natural convection happens, esp. if you stay stationary in one point in the station you can end up like using all the oxygen around you I think... Hence when it comes to smells etc. I think it's only fair if you can smell it, and that's already with the circulation fans running continuously.

[MKI]

"bad smells" are actually not the worse thing on a space station in terms of ventilation concerns.

It's actually your own breathing, namely the carbon dioxide you exhale can easily end up gathering and wrapping up around your face and suffocating you to death while your sleeping, as you aren't moving. This is why the ISS is a terrible place to try to sleep, as ventilation is constantly providing airflow all throughout the station constantly to prevent this problem, including where people sleep, all these units running makes it continuously noisy, and no one really likes having a draft hitting them while trying to snooze, but you need that draft or you could just simply not wake up!

Furthermore, the ISS has a very questionable smell, it's been compared to a dirty gym locker due to the constant habitation in an enclosed space filled with people that don't take a shower for months that wear week old clothing, that hasn't been deep cleaned in decades. So "bad smells" don't really matter since its all essentially 1 bad smell. 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by MKI

[kerbiloid]

Matches.