Power Supply Options for Lunar Oxygen Production Plants: Overview, System Trades and Evaluation
- Paper number
IAC-11,A3,2.P,20,x11294
- Author
Mr. Andy Braukhane, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany
- Coauthor
Mr. Eugen Ksenik, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany
- Year
2011
- Abstract
In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) on the Moon is a main driver for sustainable exploration of our natural Earth orbiting body. The extraction of Oxygen out of lunar Regolith – the soft soil layer on top of the Moon surface – is of particular interest, mainly for on-site propellant production. Reducing the delivery of resources from Earth leads to significant cost savings and ensures a long-term endeavour for robotic as well as human exploration missions. Besides the build-up, control and maintenance of Oxygen production plants, their power supply is one major critical element. The high demand of electrical and thermal energy to run the facility is a driving factor for its design and the implementation into an overall lunar outpost. A commonly proposed method to generate the heat energy, which is required to separate the molecules of the soil, is the concentration of solar rays using parabolic dishes, heliostats or Fresnel lenses. This technique offers an apparently high efficiency in terms of power provision compared to the consumption of the components of a solar-thermal system. Another approach is to use solar arrays in combination with a secondary battery system in order to provide the energy for among others the chemical reduction process. Fuel cells and radio isotope thermoelectric generators are also potential technologies. The DLR Institute of Space Systems recently developed a small Earth demonstration chamber for tests, verification and further investigation of lunar Oxygen production. It takes Hydrogen as a reactant to extract oxygen out of the Ilmenite-, respectively glass-fraction within the lunar soil simulant. This furnace uses electrical energy and acts as a supporting test element of the described theoretical analysis. The present paper provides an overview of the identified solar-thermal, electrical and chemical approaches. Benefits, efficiencies and risks of each option are discussed and traded. Budget calculations for different use cases, e.g. small lunar demonstration plants, operating facilities and evolved habitats, will be used to quantify the degrees of utility from the first steps up to an advanced settlement. This results in an indicator which technology seems to be the most promising for the respective stage. The analyses are based on the Hydrogen reduction process in order to ensure comparability of the scenarios. Other extraction techniques considered within this work are explicitly highlighted.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)