Project

A smart sustainable and stable Mars ISRU process for production of O2 and value-added chemicals

Code
1SHCA24N
Duration
01 November 2023 → 14 January 2028
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Promotor
Research disciplines
  • Engineering and technology
    • Astronautical engineering
    • Reacting systems
    • Catalysis and reacting systems engineering not elsewhere classified
    • Modelling, simulation and optimisation
    • Carbon capture engineering
Keywords
In-situ resource utilization Electrochemical CO2 reduction Mars exploration
 
Project description

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECO2R) is a potential in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technology for use on Mars to support human activities, and benefits from the abundant feedstock (CO2) which accounts for 95% of the Mars atmosphere. It is a technology where CO2 can be converted into oxygen on anode and valued chemical products on cathode simultaneously. Although ECO2R technology has received considerable attention recently, the related space application has rarely been evaluated. To fill this gap, this research proposal aims to evaluate the technical feasibility of a smart, sustainable, and stable ECO2R application on Mars. It provides a smart solution to produce oxygen and different chemicals, including CO, CH4, and syngas, in a single process. Therefore, the current ECO2R electrolyser structure will be first improved and demonstrated under a simulated Mars environment. Next, a more sustainable electrolyser will be developed by improving the stability of the gas diffusion electrode (GDE) and the electrolyte. This experimental effort will be guided by simulation work to study the mechanism and design the cell structure. Moreover, the simulation work will provide guidelines to improve the cell performance at a more extreme condition which is beyond the lab but closer to Mars' condition. An overview of the process will be presented based on the aforementioned work, including the downstream and upstream elements with specifications for multiple mission scenarios.