A parametric study of solar heating methods for thermal ice mining

Institut

Professur für Lunare und Planetare Explorationstechnologien

Typ

Semesterarbeit /

Inhalt

theoretisch /  

Beschreibung

Water is one of the most accessible and abundant resources in the solar system. The presence of water has been detected on the lunar surface and asteroids, both promising target destinations for thermal ice mining. Combining this with Water-Electrolysis-Propulsion (WEP) technology can form the basis of a self-sufficient space mobility architecture. The extracted and purified water is electrolysed on board of a spacecraft into hydrogen and oxygen, which are subsequently supplied to chemical, cold-gas, or electrical thrusters. Within the scope of the project "Ice to Thrust", the Professorship of Lunar and Planetray Exploration collaborates closely with the Chair of Space Mobility and Propulsion to demonstrate the combined process chain (water extraction, electrolysis, and thrust generation) for the first time on laboratory scale.

Below its triple point, water can only exist as ice or gas which has unique implications for the extraction process. Different heating methods can be used to evaporate water ice. Two main candidates for closer investigation with the Ice to Thrust project are solar surface heating and microwave heating. In later project stages, the thermal extraction will be investigated experimentally.

To aid the design of the vacuum facilities, this thesis shall develop a transient 3D simulation of the solar surface heating process, ice sublimation and transport of water vapour. Similar simulation cases were already performed at the research group with the software package COMSOL Multiphysics. A parametric simulation study shall vary parameters such as sample size, water content or input power to characterize the extraction process and provide boundary conditions for the design of the remaining facility (vacuum pump rates, sample cooling, cold trap).

Tasks:

• research and summarize previous work on regolith heating methods
• build a simulation model of heat and mass transfer of a regoloith sample in COMSOL
• define performance metrics (e.g. temperature uniformity, water extraction rate, energy efficiency, or similar) for a systematic comparison of heating methods and sample geometries
• perform parameter studies of a (laboratory-scale) solar surface heating case
• analysis and discussion of the results

Voraussetzungen

• basic knowledge and interest in lunar and planetary exploration
• knowledge in heat and mass transport as well as thermodynamics
• experience with COMSOL is considered an asset
• programming skills, preferably in Julia, Matlab, and/or Python
• motivated, pragmatic, and self-organized personality 
• good command of the English language

Möglicher Beginn

sofort

Kontakt

Thilo Witzel
thilo.witzeltum.de

Ausschreibung