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#1425 05/20/05 10:43 PM
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Would you like a quick $(USD)250K?

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050516/full/050516-15.html
MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen)

"Entrants must build a device, within certain weight and power limits, that can extract at least five kilograms of oxygen from a sample of volcanic ash (a substitute for lunar soil) in the space of eight hours. The first team to build and demonstrate such a gadget before 1 June 2008 will claim the cash."

Given that the semiconductor industry would pay a fortune to directly isolate elemental silicon from silicate, Uncle Al senses a synergism here. The only thing standing in the winner's path is thermodynamics. As silicon foundries will tell you, molten silicate does not electrolyze to oxygen and silicon. Even aluminum electrowinning needs the thermodynamic push of anode oxidation.

Maybe if we had a high temperature electrolyte membrane... and a way to drop the melt viscosity... and our thumb up Tinkerbelle's bottom...

Uncle Al wishes everybody good luck on obtaining the 156 moles of O2.


Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/qz3.pdf
.
#1426 05/21/05 12:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Uncle Al:
"Entrants must build a device, within certain weight and power limits, that can extract at least five kilograms of oxygen from a sample of volcanic ash (a substitute for lunar soil) in the space of eight hours.
This must be enough to calculate what the minimal power consumption of such device would be!

My guess is that it is about 100 kwt !

What is NASA requirement on that?


E eek S

#1427 05/21/05 06:37 PM
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http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/spaceresvol3/plsoom1.htm "Available processing techniques include hydrogen reduction of ilmenite and electrochemical and chemical reductions of silicates (Williams and Jadwick 1980, Williams 1980." "In the case of silicates, hydrogen reduction is not thermodynamically favorable and proposed processing steps include direct electrochemical reduction, reduction with carbon plus chlorine, reduction with aluminum, and reduction with methane (Kesterke 1971; Carroll 1983; Colson and Haskin, immediately following; Williams and Erstfeld 1979; Anthony et al. 1988; Rosenberg et al., immediately preceding)."

#1428 05/22/05 12:12 PM
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Thanks for the great pointers.
For the aluminum electrolitic step only, minimum can be estimated quite well:
13*(13/12) = 14 kWh/kg , 70 kWh for 5 kg , ~8 kW for 8 hours to produce 5kg of O2 !

This minimum estimate is probably approximately correct for any process one can easily come up with: minimum 8kW of energy consumption

It would require 10x10 m solar panel to produce,
with current off the shelf panels

ES

#1429 05/25/05 03:53 PM
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---- the typical overall mass and power constraints of robotic experiment packages, 50kg mass, 100W power. ----

so, 8 kW is 80 times more than was expected before. I am out of that race

e smile s


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