Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Place the relatively mature MOXIE technology advance and solid oxide electrolysis in general in perspective to the historical evolution of low TRL Mars ISRU technology.
- Provide a summary of advances in Mars ISRU technology since the 1990s.
- Develop a perspective of how the MOXIE Project relates to other advances in Mars ISRU technology.
- Review the accomplishments of MOXIE and follow-on work, and identify technical issues left incomplete for Mars ISRU.
- Suggest further work needed to fill the gaps left by MOXIE, as well as additional opportunities in solid-oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC) technology.
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Overview of Mars ISRU Technologies
3.2. Advances in Mars ISRU Technology 1996–2014
- A small grant to test a cell for SOEC of CO2 [17]. This device utilized Pt electrodes and produced oxygen at TRL 2. Funds were not available to continue the work.
- An experimental study of a Sabatier reactor that achieved very high conversion [18]. This work was complete at TRL 4. Oddly, two NASA studies about 18 years later did not refer to this work.
- Joint JPL-Lockheed-Martin Astronautics (LMA) development of a sorption compressor [19]. A large sorption compressor was built and tested but the results did demonstrate that this approach had great merit in terms of power efficiency.
- Several JPL chemical engineers demonstrated methane reforming with excellent conversion at TRL 3 [20]. The Sabatier process produces excess methane.
- CO2 compression by freezing at TRL 3 [23]. Compression by freezing remains a possibility for the future.
3.3. Advances in Terrestrial Energy Technology by DOE and the International Community Relevant to Mars ISRU
3.4. The MOXIE Project (2014–2023)
- Demonstrated production of oxygen on Mars up to ~12 g/h;
- Produced oxygen purity of ~100% with anode pressure > cathode pressure;
- Produced oxygen at low Mars temperature in early hours after midnight and warm Mars temperature in early afternoon in all seasons;
- Demonstrated low rate of degradation through more than 20 thermal cycles;
- Demonstrated a mechanical compressor to acquire Mars atmospheric gas.
- Demonstrated sealed stacks of cells that could electrolyze essentially pure CO2 without oxidation of the electrodes or reduction of product CO—a new first;
- Demonstrated that the Flight Model MOXIE on Mars was essentially identical in performance to the Engineering Model MOXIE in Lab. This was a major observation that showed that operation on Mars could be replicated in the lab on Earth;
- Explored the relationship between stack voltage and current (oxygen production rate was explored extensively);
- The intrinsic area-specific cell resistance (iASR) was evaluated over a wide range of operating settings and iASR was found to be small enough to allow efficient full-scale operation with such stacks;
- By comparing iASR from Mars run to Mars run, it was demonstrated that degradation due to thermal cycling was well within acceptable limits;
- Carried out extensive testing and analysis of filters for Martian dust and determined that dust removal in a full-scale Mars ISRU could be achieved with a reasonably sized filter system.
3.5. Advances in SOEC beyond MOXIE (2017–2023)
- Scaled up the active area of cells from 22.7 cm2 to 100 cm2;
- Assembled a 65-cell stack (MOXIE stacks were limited to 10 cells);
- Demonstrated use of the stack for electrolysis of CO2, CO2 + H2O, or H2O.
3.6. Issues Remaining after MOXIE
- (1)
- Lack of measurement of degradation due to long-term steady state operation. It is expected that a full-scale Mars ISRU would operate for about 10,000 h in a steady state without interruption, except for rare shutdowns. MOXIE did not generate data on the degradation of the stack or the compressor for such long-term operation. MOXIE did acquire considerable data on stack degradation of efficiency due to thermal cycling aftershort duration runs, but the connection between degradation from long-term operation and thermal cycling remains unclear. OxEon Energy LLC recently carried out some studies of degradation due to steady operation, but a significant gap remains regarding degradation from 10,000 h of operation. The compressor for MOXIE was not designed for long life and no data are available on long duration testing.
- (2)
- Uncertain quality control from stack to stack. MOXIE produced eleven approximately equivalent stacks. Stacks were characterized by (1) the absolute stack intrinsic area-specific resistance (iASR), (2) the variation in individual cell voltages after manufacture, and (3) leakage between the anode and cathode. The stack with the lowest iASR and lowest range of cell voltages was chosen as the stack that was sent to Mars. The eleven stacks varied widely in the magnitude of the three basic attributes. After MOXIE, OxEon Energy LLC made a point of assembling a large stack of 65 cells, but it is not clear what the variation was from cell-to-cell voltages within that large stack, or how reproducible such stacks can be manufactured.
- (3)
- Role of individual cells in creating the properties of stacks. While measurements on individual cells were made on the eleven MOXIE stacks as manufactured, only very limited measurements were made on stacks after cycling, and we lack data on how the cells contribute to the observed changes in stacks due to cycling (or long-term operation). Of particular interest is how the worst cell (with highest resistance) affects susceptibility to carbon formation. Within a stack, it is possible that non-uniformity in manifolding might contribute significantly to stack variability.
- (4)
- Low cathode pressure operation. The side reaction that limits how high a voltage can be applied to cells for oxygen production involves reduction of CO to carbon. The voltage limit is determined by the Nernst voltage for carbon formation, which increases at lower cathode pressures. It is therefore desirable to operate at lower cathode pressures, permitting higher cell voltage, and therefore higher current density. MOXIE was able to lower the cathode pressure to about 0.22 bar, but we have no data below that pressure. Lower cathode pressure also reduces the power required for compression of Mars gas. This parameter will be important in larger scale system designs.
- (5)
- Acquisition and compression of Mars atmosphere gas. Any Mars ISRU system requires acquisition and compression of Mars atmosphere gas. The simplest, most appealing approach is to use a mechanical compressor which runs continuously. While a prototype mechanical compressor was used successfully on MOXIE, it is not clear what the characteristics of a next generation compressor would be (mass, efficiency, lifetime). Two batch-type systems for acquisition and compression of Mars atmosphere gas based on sorption and cryogenic freezing were studied briefly. In the sorption process, a sorbent at low temperature is open to the atmosphere where it absorbs CO2. Then it is closed off and heated to release CO2 at comparatively very high pressure. In the cryogenic method, CO2 is frozen out using a cryocooler while exposed to the atmosphere and then warmed after closing off, to release CO2 at comparatively very high pressure [19,23,25,26,27,48,49]. These cannot yet be ruled out, pending further development.
- (6)
- How will NASA deal with the legacy of MOXIE? The field of SOEC technology for terrestrial applications is worldwide and funded at much higher levels than NASA could consider. MOXIE demonstrated that this technology is also applicable to Mars ISRU technology. Post-MOXIE activities by OxEon Energy LLC showed that this technology might be applied to lunar ISRU as well via electrolysis of water. MOXIE left behind it a well-equipped state of the art laboratory for testing SOEC devices and systems. It seems likely that NASA could leverage the field of SOEC technology with a relatively small investment, by continuing to adapt advances in terrestrial SOEC technology to space applications. While MOXIE was a small-scale demonstration, Hinterman (2022) developed a detailed model of a full-scale version of MOXIE, including a very detailed analysis of requirements and expected performance of all subsystems. He optimized the design based on mass, power, risk, and ancillary factors [50]. Rapp and Hinterman (2023) tested how Hinterman’s design would perform with several alternative control schemes against 10,000 h of Mars atmospheric data at half-hourly intervals [51]. They evaluated power requirements and determined the most efficient control scheme based on power and avoidance of carbon formation. These results provided further evidence that an extension of MOXIE technology would prove effective on Mars.
3.7. Advances in Other Mars ISRU Technology (2014–2023)
- Did not include dust filtering;
- Utilized the Sabatier process for CH4 and O2 production with water and CO2 as feedstocks;
- Assumed that water-laden soil was available as a source of water.
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Component | % |
---|---|
CO2 | 95 |
Ar | 1.6 |
N2 | 2.7 |
O2 | 0.013 |
H2O | ~30 ppm |
Process | Description | Conditions | Common Materials |
---|---|---|---|
Reactions | |||
RWGS | CO + H2O | 700–900 °C 1 bar | * Fe2O3@ Al2O3 |
Sabatier | CH4 + H2O | 200–500 °C 10–30 bar | * Ni@Al2O3 |
Fischer–Tropsch | CnH2n+2 + nH2O CnH2n + nH2O | 300–350 °C 20–40 bar | * Fe3O4@ Al2O3 |
Methanol | CH3OH CH3OH + H2O | 200–300 °C 16–150 bar | * CuO@Al2O3 |
Haber–Bosch | 2NH3 | 400–650 °C 200–400 bar | * Fe3O4@ Al2O3 |
Other | |||
SOEC | CO + 0.5O2 0.5O2 + H2 Gas phase | 800–1000 °C | Zr2O Perovskite |
Electrolysis | O2 + H2 Aqueous phase | 25 °C/1 bar | Polymers |
Cryogenic separation | CO2 (s) | −78 °C–1 bar | - |
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Rapp, D.; Inglezakis, V.J. Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal. Appl. Sci. 2024, 14, 653. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14020653
Rapp D, Inglezakis VJ. Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal. Applied Sciences. 2024; 14(2):653. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14020653
Chicago/Turabian StyleRapp, Donald, and Vassilis J. Inglezakis. 2024. "Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal" Applied Sciences 14, no. 2: 653. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14020653
APA StyleRapp, D., & Inglezakis, V. J. (2024). Mars In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with Focus on Atmospheric Processing for Near-Term Application—A Historical Review and Appraisal. Applied Sciences, 14(2), 653. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14020653