Imperial College London
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Dr Joshua N. Rasera

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Research Associate
 
 
 
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Contact

 

j.rasera

 
 
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Location

 

Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Cilliers:2020:10.1016/j.pss.2019.104749,
author = {Cilliers, J and Hadler, K and Rasera, J},
doi = {10.1016/j.pss.2019.104749},
journal = {Planetary and Space Science},
pages = {1--8},
title = {Estimating the scale of Space Resource Utilisation (SRU) operations to satisfy lunar oxygen demand},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.104749},
volume = {180},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The production of oxygen from lunar regolith is analogous to metal production from ore in a terrestrial mine. The process flowsheets both include excavation, haulage and beneficiation of the regolith or ore to provide the feedstock for the chemical extraction of oxygen or metal. The production rate of oxygen depends on the mass rate of regolith treated and the efficiency of converting the regolith to oxygen. To date, the development of Space Resource Utilisation (SRU) has been concerned with the technological development of the process, particularly the excavation and oxygen extraction. However, the required operating mass rates of the mine operation and the oxygen extraction stage have not been considered in any great detail.Previous estimates of mining scale for lunar oxygen production are reviewed, and converted to a comparable regolith mining rate of kg/h. Beneficiation of the regolith before oxygen extraction is considered, and the effects of pre-sizing and removal of a specific component, agglutinates, are considered. The oxygen yield and operational availability are also included. It is estimated that the minimum mining rate to produce 1000kg of oxygen per annum is at least five times higher than previous estimates, 30kg/h, for equivalent efficiency assumptions.Monte-Carlo simulations were performed for statistical confidence in the estimates of the mining mass rate and the required oxygen extraction feedstock rate. To be 95% confident that the 1000kg/y O2 will be met, the designed mining rate should be at least 65kg/h, and the beneficiated feedstock rate 16kg/h.This study has revised and increased the estimate of the lunar regolith mining scale required for the production of a given amount of oxygen. It has also estimated the mass rate of feedstock required for oxygen extraction, if the regolith is first beneficiated.The findings have a significant impact on the practical implementation of lunar mining and oxygen extraction, particularly the process des
AU  - Cilliers,J
AU  - Hadler,K
AU  - Rasera,J
DO  - 10.1016/j.pss.2019.104749
EP  - 8
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 0032-0633
SP  - 1
TI  - Estimating the scale of Space Resource Utilisation (SRU) operations to satisfy lunar oxygen demand
T2  - Planetary and Space Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.104749
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063319302144
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/73401
VL  - 180
ER  -
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