50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition · 2012 · 22 citations · 4 references
EngineeringChemical EngineeringMaterials EngineeringElectrochemistryHeat TransferMetallurgyElectrochemical CellsElectrochemical Energy ConversionElectrochemical ReactorsElectrolysis ProcessesElectrolytic CellsEnergy ConversionElectrochemical Conversion ReactorsElectrochemical Oxidation ReactorsElectrochemical Reactor DesignElectrolysis ReactorsJoule HeatingLunar PetrologyNonisothermal Reactor DesignRegolith Thermal Properties
The technology of direct electrolysis of molten lunar regolith to produce oxygen and molten metal alloys has progressed greatly in the last few years. The development of long-lasting inert anodes and cathode designs as well as techniques for the removal of molten products from the reactor has been demonstrated. The containment of chemically aggressive oxide and metal melts is very difficult at the operating temperatures ca. 1600 C. Containing the molten oxides in a regolith shell can solve this technical issue and can be achieved by designing a Joule-heated (sometimes called 'self-heating') reactor in which the electrolytic currents generate enough Joule heat to create a molten bath. Solutions obtained by multiphysics modeling allow the identification of the critical dimensions of concept reactors.
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Laurent Sibille, Donald R. Sadoway, Aislinn H. C. Sirk et al. · 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition · 2009 · 34 citations