Abstract A novel indirect solar receiver/volatile extractor concept was considered for thermally extracting H2O(s) from lunar regolith in the permanently shadowed regions on the Moon. The modeled indirect solar receiver/H2O(s) extractor consisted of a rigid, highly conductive chamber that was partially embedded in the lunar surface. Solar selective and non-selective absorbers were examined to efficiently capture concentrated solar irradiation and effectively transfer heat to icy regolith to drive H2O sublimation. A detailed heat and mass transfer model was developed in ANSYS Fluent to assess the feasibility of thermal extraction from permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles with 5 wt% of H2O(s). The maximum H2O(v) collected after 10 terrestrial h of simulation time was 2789 g for the solar selective coated receiver and 1035 g for the non-selective receiver. The addition of a solar selective coating was observed to significantly enhance H2O(s) thermal extraction. The low lunar regolith thermal conductivity was shown as the major bottleneck for thermal extraction.
Highlights A new indirect concept for the thermal extraction of volatiles was introduced. The low conductivity of regolith is the primary bottleneck for efficient extraction. The NASA H2O collection target can be achieved with the extractor. Extended surfaces potentially lead to greater thermal extraction effectiveness.
Indirect solar receiver development for the thermal extraction of H2O(v) from lunar regolith: Heat and mass transfer modeling
Acta Astronautica ; 190 ; 365-376
2021-09-13
12 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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