Helium 3 Mining and Extraction from the Moon for a Worldwide Energy Production
- Paper number
IAC-11,A3,2.P,22,x11759
- Author
Dr. Piyush Kuchhal, India
- Coauthor
Dr. Ugur Guven, United States
- Year
2011
- Abstract
One of the most important things in the world is without a doubt energy and natural resources. As the modern world is progressing, our civilization needs more and more energy as well as various natural resources. Hence, we have to look towards the stars as a way to help humanity solve its problems of unlimited energy as well as natural resources. Naturally, the energy is the most important aspect, since the modern civilization depends totally on energy in order to survive. Unfortunately, world’s energy sources are dwindling and renewable energy sources as well as nuclear power plants are not able to fill this void. Luckily, Helium 3 fusion is one of the modern alternatives that allow for long term production of energy without the corresponding radioactive by products. The efficiency of Helium 3 – Helium 3 fusion is markedly greater than the efficiency of any nuclear fission reaction. By containing the reaction with only Helium 3, neutron as well as tritium reactions are stopped from occurring. The production of heat from Helium 3 fusion reaction can be passed through a heat exchanger for variety of applications ranging from hydrogen production to electricity production. Moreover, the protons which are the end products of the fusion reaction can be used for direct electricity production. In addition, Helium 4 is also an end product of Helium 3 fusion and that has a variety of applications as well. Unfortunately, the moon is the only viable source of Helium 3, as it is found only in trace amounts on Earth. Especially with the recent data obtained from the Chandrayaan Mission as well as from the Chang E-1 probe, large amounts of Helium 3 has been found, buried inside Ilmenite, in the Moon’s sea beds as well as under its regolith. However, in order to make Helium 3 production and mining efficient, more data needs to be collected on the locations of the Moon, where Helium 3 is found. Moreover, advanced mining techniques in the vacuum of the moon’s surface, needs to be implemented for Helium 3 mining. Thus, this paper focuses on Helium 3 detection techniques on the Moon as well as on the most adaptable mining conditions, suitable for lower gravity as well as vacuum conditions. In addition, the paper also focuses on the problem of transporting the Helium 3 to Earth within reasonable economical constraints.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
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