Experimental investigation of an optimised tribocharger design for space resource utilisation
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Rasera, JN
Cilliers, JJ
Lamamy, J-A
Hadler, K
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Triboelectric charging and free-fall separation are attractive technologies for lunar mineral beneficiation. Here, an optimised tribocharger design was built and evaluated under terrestrial conditions. The charging behaviour of pure silica and ilmenite were tested using the optimised design, as were mixtures of silica and ilmenite, and samples of lunar regolith simulant JSC-1. Pure silica and ilmenite acquired negative and positive charge, respectively, through contact with the tribocharger. The tribocharger affected significantly the movement of the pure minerals in the electrostatic field. Results from the binary mixtures indicate that ilmenite recovery is independent of initial ilmenite concentration, and can be predicted from the mass distribution of pure ilmenite samples. For JSC-1, the tribocharger was found to increase the density of the material in certain collectors, indicating an upgrading of denser constituents. The optimised tribocharger design has a significant effect on the charging and separation performance.
Date Issued
2023-04
Date Acceptance
2023-02-07
Citation
Planetary and Space Science, 2023, 228, pp.1-11
ISSN
0032-0633
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Planetary and Space Science
Volume
228
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003206332300020X?via%3Dihub
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
105651
Date Publish Online
2023-02-11