Martian Air Separation for In-Situ Resource Utilization Processes

Details Martian Air Separation for In-Situ Resource Utilization Processes Martian Air Separation for In-Situ Resource Utilization Processes

Jan 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002iaf..confe.237m&link_type=abstract

IAF abstracts, 34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, The Second World Space Congress, held 10-19 October, 2002 in Houston, TX, USA.,

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We will introduce the concept of using synthetic organic and inorganic membranes for the separation and purification of carbon dioxide (CO2) from mixtures of gases, such as those found in the Martian atmosphere. The class of applications targeted in this project are known as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU involves the use of resources present on Mars, such as atmospheric gases, a concept that will dramatically reduce the amount of material that must be transferred from Earth to support a mission. ISRU technologies will provide many of the consumables required for a manned mission, such as rocket propellant, water, oxygen and buffer gases. The Martian atmosphere is primarily CO2, and also contains a few percent nitrogen and argon. Martian CO2 is a principal component of several ISRU processes that may be used in a manned Mars mission. For example, the Sabatier/Electrolysis (SE) process reacts atmospheric CO2 with hydrogen to produce methane (fuel), water, and oxygen. Pure gas and mixed gas permeation tests with CO2, Ar, N2, and O2 were performed over the temperature range 243 K to 295 K with a several candidate membrane materials including rubbery polymers (silicone rubber and PEBAX) and supported faujasite zeolite membranes. In experiments with commercially available silicone rubber membranes, the pure gas CO2 permeance (flux/driving force) increases from 460 GPUs to 655 GPUs as the temperature decreases from 295 K to 243 K. A GPU is a commonly used unit of permeance and is defined as 10-6 cm3(STP)/cm2-s-cm Hg. The ideal carbon dioxide/nitrogen separation factor (ratio of pure gas permeances) increases from 7.5 to 17.5 over the same temperature range. However, in mixed gas experiments, the CO2/N2 separation factor was much lower, increasing from 4.5 to 6 as the temperature decreased from 295 K to 243 K. This difference was attributed to plasticization of the rubbery polymer membrane by CO2.

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