Browsing by Author "Binns, David"
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Item Payload Concept Evaluation for Water/Oxygen production on the Moon based on Thermo- or Electro-Chemical Reduction of Lunar Regolith(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Fereres, Sonia; Morales, Mercedes; Denk, Thorsten; Osen, Karen; McGlen, Ryan J.; Seidel, Achim; Madakashira, Hemanth; Urbina, Diego; Binns, DavidUsing space-based resources (In-Situ Resource Utilization, ISRU) to produce life support and propulsion consumables such as oxygen or water offers the possibility of a more sustainable and cost-effective exploration of the Moon when compared to missions relying solely on material transport from Earth. Learning how to operate on the Moon with local resources, reduced gravity and a harsh environment is a stepping stone towards developing technology for a sustained human presence in space. We analyze several technical concepts to produce oxygen or water from lunar regolith. Thermochemical reduction processes of solid lunar materials using hydrogen (hydrogen reduction of ilmenite), methane (carbothermal) reduction and other processes such as molten salt electrochemistry (e.g. the FFC-Cambridge process) are evaluated. Focus is set on the technological solutions for supporting fluid management systems required to produce, separate, collect, and measure water or oxygen from solid oxide chemical/electrochemical processes, evaluating their technology readiness level, current necessary developments and their potential interaction with other life support and exploration activities. Technology de-risking plans to demonstrate fluid management system feasibility and tests in relevant environments are proposed to support establishing a human presence on the Moon sustained by local resources.Item Thermal design challenges for lunar ISRU payloads(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Hager, Philipp; Binns, DavidSeveral Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) studies were performed at ESA ESTEC to investigate different lunar in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) payload concepts. There are numerous technological challenges mainly associated with the maturity of the different processes and associated components, but also regarding thermal design aspects. A wide range of dissipated powers, high process temperatures, batch processes, and the thermal lunar surface environment have proven to be major design drivers for the ISRU payloads. Carbothermal reduction with methane, ilmenite reduction with hydrogen, and molten salt electrolysis were investigated. The ISRU processes are characterized by process temperatures from 850 degC to 1300 degC and downstream process units of up to 500 degC. The investigated concepts required from 150 W to 900 W of heating power over several hours per batch, for multiple batches over the course of a lunar day. A further challenge is the thermal process control for thermally inert ovens with regolith. The limitations of payloads, regarding dimensions, mass, accommodation and allowable heat fluxes at the interfaces to the lander, restrict the thermal control possibilities further. All this is placed in a challenging lunar surface thermal environment. In this paper the thermal designs for two ISRU payloads are described along with the respective results. Eventually potential thermal control technologies are sketched to overcome the shortcomings of the current design limitations for lunar ISRU payloads.