Engineers Burn Off Sewage Using Rocket Science

I think that most of us tend to expect rocket science to be used on things like rockets. The science behind the tech has many other applications that have nothing to do with rockets and space travel. A good example is a team of engineers who have applied rocket science to treating wastewater.

A thruster originally designed for spacecraft that operates on nitrous oxide (the same stuff used on racecars) has been modified for use in treating sewage and wastewater. The engineers developed a sewage treatment process that is tweaked to produce nitrous oxide and methane.

The methane is envisioned as a gas that could potentially power the treatment plant in the future. The nitrous oxide produced would be burned off by the rocket thruster producing only hot oxygen and nitrogen as waste products. The nitrous oxide and methane gases are produced using a low-oxygen technique.