The beneficiation of lunar regolith for space resource utilisation: A review
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Published version
Author(s)
Rasera, Joshua
Cilliers, Jan
Lamamy, Julien-Alexandre
Hadler, Kathryn
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Space Resource Utilisation (SRU) technology will enable further exploration and habitation of space by humankind. The production of oxygen on the Moon is one of the first objectives for SRU; this can be achieved through the thermo-chemical reduction of the lunar regolith. Several techniques, such as hydrogen reduction and molten salt electrolysis, have been proposed. All reduction techniques require a consistent feedstock from the regolith to reliably and consistently produce oxygen. The preparation of this feedstock, known as beneficiation, is a critical intermediate stage of the SRU flowsheet, however it has received little consideration relative to the preceding excavation, and the subsequent oxygen production stage. This review describes the physics of the main beneficiation methods suitable for SRU. Further, we collate and review all of the previous studies on the beneficiation of lunar regolith.
Date Issued
2020-07-01
Date Acceptance
2020-02-13
Citation
Planetary and Space Science, 2020, 186
ISSN
0032-0633
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Planetary and Space Science
Volume
186
Copyright Statement
©2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Sponsor
Le Fonds National de la Recherche
Fonds National de la Reserche Luxembourg
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ispace Europe S.A.
Grant Number
12489764
12489764
411291661
ispace Europe S.A. (J. Rasera)
Subjects
Space Resources
SRU
ISRU
Lunar Resources
Dry Mineral Processing
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 104879
Date Publish Online
2020-02-18