Modeling energy requirements for oxygen production on the Moon
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Spacecraft using combustion engines require substantial amounts of oxygen for their propellant. The Moon could be a source of oxygen for rocket propellant, since the material composing the lunar surface can be processed to extract oxygen. However, little is known about overall energy requirements of the processes described in the literature for oxygen extraction from lunar regolith. This knowledge gap constrains the planning of lunar missions, since the scale of energy infrastructure required for oxygen production facilities is not well characterized. This study presents an energy consumption model for oxygen production via hydrogen reduction of the mineral ilmenite (FeTiO3). We consider an end-to-end production chain starting from dry regolith as the feedstock. The production includes the following process steps: excavation, transportation, beneficiation, hydrogen reduction, water electrolysis, liquefaction, and zero boil-off storage. The model predicts the energy demand per kilogram oxygen produced based on adjustable parameters for each process step. As expected, the model indicates a strong dependence on feedstock composition. For regolith composed of 10 wt% ilmenite, the model predicts that a total of 24.3 (± 5.8) kWh is needed per kg of liquid oxygen produced. This study confirms that the hydrogen reduction and electrolysis steps have the highest energy requirements in the production chain. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the enrichment factor of the beneficiation process is the most critical parameter for optimizing energy utilization. Overall, this study provides a parameterized end-to-end model of energy consumption that can serve as a foundation for various production systems on the Moon.
Date Issued
2025-02-25
Date Acceptance
2024-10-28
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025, 122 (8)
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Start Page
e2306146122
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
122
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39964715
Subjects
energy requirements
hydrogen reduction process
in-situ resource utilization
lunar oxygen production
space exploration
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e2306146122
Date Publish Online
2025-02-18