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#51 2018-12-19 16:40:59

kbd512
Administrator
Registered: 2015-01-02
Posts: 7,318

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Void,

That's the same type of technology we're using to try to find better materials for batteries.  It's going to be a requirement moving forward, as we can't "discover by chance" that a particular type of material or chemical process is suitable for a particular application.  We need a computer knowledge base that iteratively tests all the possibilities and spits out the material or process solution that's optimal for solving a specific problem.

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#52 2020-05-23 10:19:48

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

KBD512,

Hope all is headed in the best direction per your concerns.

I am planning to work with this topic a bit more, as I have some notions to hope to further it.

This may take a number of posts.


Done.

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#53 2020-05-23 10:38:29

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsorption

This is going to be important, although I do not entirely dismiss Absorption.

I am interested in seeking out Martian "Freebies", or "Cheapies', should it be possible to engage them with adaptations and inventions.

I may be in for additional education as I march out into the thin ice of my assumptions, my notions that I understand sufficiently to be able to do something useful.  We will discover the bounds if that presumed reality.

So, in my guessing, I am supposing that solar panels can do more than generate electricity.  This may be true for both Mars and Earth.

Starting with the relatively simple, I hope to engage adsorption by heating and cooling substances discovered to be appropriate to desires and needs, by bonding such adsorption substances to the back sides of solar panels.  At the equator, we should expect large temperature fluctuations, and elsewhere some of that as well.  That is presumed by me to allow atmospheric separations, hoping to achieve a chemistry advantage.

That is not to say I will not attempt to later expand the scope of methods.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-23 10:59:05)


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#54 2020-05-23 10:55:44

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

I am going to attempt to attach a library of related information, as I am just now feeling I want to get out for a walk in the sun.

Be warned, that I will very likely "Prune" or add to this material later, so if you post in reply prematurely, it may result in some odd back and fourth communications.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a … 9417305745

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-low-cost- … tures.html

This one apparently uses membranes, perhaps not adsorption, but so what?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 … 131319.htm

This one could be a thing I have wanted for some time:
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LEW-TOPS-85
Quote:

Pressurized Oxygen via Solid Oxide Electrolysis
Small, simple device produces pure, dry, pressurized oxygen

Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed a method for producing pure high-pressure oxygen via an electrochemical pumping process through a solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) cell stack. Glenn's device can either concentrate the oxygen in the ambient atmosphere or extract the oxygen via the chemical reduction of carbon dioxide, water, or any combination of these substances. This solid-state device does not use any moving parts or any extra separation processes to purify the delivered oxygen. Instead, Glenn's technology relies on a multi-stage stack design and an SOE process that includes an oxygen-ion-conducting ceramic membrane to generate high-pressure oxygen within a compact, noiseless device. This process has great potential for use in industrial, medical, and recreational applications.

Benefits

Simple: Eliminates pumps and rotary compressors and does not require compression sealing
Green: Uses only air, water, or carbon dioxide to generate pure oxygen
Reliable: Contains no moving parts, increasing reliability and requiring minimum maintenance
Compact: Reduces device mass and volume compared to current oxygen-generation devices
Stable: Avoids large pressure changes across individual cells
Applications
Refining systems (e.g., fluid catalytic cracking regenerators)
Syngas generation for gas to liquids (GTL) plants
Industrial processes (e.g., smelting iron)
Specialized medical oxygen systems
The Technology
Originally conceived as a method to generate pressurized pure oxygen for extravehicular activity (EVA) suits worn on the International Space Station, Glenn's technology represents a significant breakthrough. The generator is an all-solid-state device that separates oxygen from air, water, or carbon dioxide and electrochemically pumps it to a high pressure in a multi-stage process. Glenn's design features a solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) stack, based on bi-supported cell design, that is structurally supported by two electrode layers. Sandwiched between the cathode and anode sides is an oxygen-ion conducting solid-state electrolyte membrane, made of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). These membranes form the individual SOE cells within the stack, and each cell carries out a single stage of the multi-stage process, with each stage incrementally pressurizing the oxygen. A voltage (1.5 to 2 volts) is applied across the cell, and the air or other input is supplied to the cathode side, where the oxygen dissociates into oxygen ions. The YSZ membrane will conduct only the oxygen ions, producing pure, dry oxygen. The entire stack is wrapped in a glass ceramic seal, providing a pressure vessel for the device.

Glenn's novel stack design allows hermetic sealing and does not require a compression sealing mechanism or other spring-loaded hardware. Each cell is wired in parallel so the voltage can be controlled across each cell to avoid electrochemical reduction of the electrolyte. In addition, each cell is electrically insulated from other cells in the stack using a non-electronically conducting, ceramic-woven cloth YSZ layer. Because Glenn's process resists fouling from water containing impurities or other debris, it does not require a high-purity water source, as do other water electrolysis technologies. The oxygen product is also sterile for medical applications because of the high temperature (in excess of 600°C) at which the process operates.

While this last one only would use electricity from a power source, the hope that it can draw Oxygen from the atmospheres of Mars or Earth suggests that it would not use as much power for that as it would to get it from water and CO2.  (That is my assumption).

Much CO2 could be eliminated from the Earths atmosphere, in my opinion, if we could burn chemical fuels in a gas mixture, with an upgraded content of Oxygen.  That is my suspicion at least.

And for Mars, if we could get Oxygen directly from the tiny amount found in the atmosphere of Mars, that could not be something we would be sad about.  But Adsorption may play a role in that.  Perhaps a multistage, beneficiation of the content of Oxygen, in the final product.

Of course we might care to separate Nitrogen and Argon as well.

I am going to add a couple more things that might seem unrelated, but that I think might be includable into an array of methods, to get favors from Mars, but tricks.
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-storage-h … anger.html
The boring company comes to mind.  Mars is going to be harder to manage than Earth, most likely.

Uranium? Maybe Thorium????
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-team-elec … ially.html
Quote:

Team develops an electrochemical method for extracting uranium, and potentially other metal ions, from solution

Potentially from Earth sea water, and I am hoping from Martian brines.

Brines on Mars:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/1 … rs_brines/
I suspect that more stable brines will exist in the undergrounds of Mars, maybe even near or at the equator.  Not proven though.


Taking a break, for a walk.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-23 11:34:59)


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#55 2020-05-23 17:04:02

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Let me define better, what I want.

I want vibrations, and the manipulation of substances, in such a way as benefit, entities that can manipulate objects on Mars and else....In our solar system or I suppose in a deep distance even beyond that.  So, when I think I see something that just maybe head in that direction, I see it as a "Shiny Object", worth looking into and expending a degree of effort for.

Where do the vibrations come from, and where do you put them?

Those who want to use greenhouse gasses on Mars, simply want to retain some of them in the atmosphere of Mars to raise the temperature.

Other than that if you could darken the polar ice caps, you might reduce the reflection of vibration into and beyond the sky of Mars, with the intention of raising the temperatures locally, to release greenhouse gasses to retain vibrations globally on Mars.

We might hope to extract or release additional vibrations in Martian orbit by various means, and try to deploy them to the Martian surface, hoping to change the climate situation on Mars.

-Mirrors in orbit.
-Flashing nuclear bombs in orbit. (Sir)
-Orbital power stations, where microwave or laser transfers of vibrations (Energy), could be imposed onto the surface of Mars.

And this is where I think to depart from the "Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars" notion of the future of Mars.

For whatever reason, we have some people who are entirely locked into the story, that the atmosphere of Mars, evaporated, was flung from the planet, as the magnetic field dissipated.

But, projecting for an Earth-Like planet into it's future, if we had it out at the orbit of Mars, according to the teachings I have had, it would manage to have open ocean water.  I would expect it to be very much more glaciated, at the locations of cold, high altitudes, and depending on the tilt of the planet, towards the poles or maybe else towards the equator.

I suppose that if that Earth sized planets magnetic field were to fail, then we might think that some atmosphere would go off into space.  If so, then that would further glaciate the planet.

But a theory of atmosphere, is that volcanism is balanced against capture of atmosphere to sediments, per flowing water and the sediments in that flowing water.

So, I am willing to be open minded, and suppose that the magnetic field of Mars failed and was responsible for reducing the atmosphere volume for Mars.  But I also insist that under those conditions, if water could still flow, then the atmosphere would further be captured into sediment in that flowing water.  The only loophole that could make those atmospheric gasses then re-emerge into the atmosphere would supposedly be volcanism.

So, since it is one of the assertions about Mars, that it earlier had more volcanism, but now has much less, I have no trouble supposing that the atmosphere was "Lost" both by dissipation into space, but also to an unknown degree captured into the rocks, and regolith as the planet cooled down.

I really dispise the strait jacket in thinking that has been imposed on the minds of humans by those who only will entertain, loss to space.  That was very unkind.

Having set this up, a break and a new post, to continue this.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-23 18:30:07)


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#56 2020-05-23 18:39:36

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Let me define better, what I want.

Obviously, I want to inject vibrations into the subsurface of Mars.  Possibly not into ice covered lakes.

As I have indicated in the past, I am interested in a multi-layered Mars.  Seeking to make it biologically productive, materially useful, and if it were to have a average pressure (At the nearer future), a good place to launch missions from into the solar system.  A civilization.

And I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the universe as experienced on Mars to suit the needs of humans.

These heated reservoirs could be ice covered salty lakes, or deep vaults underground.

A diversion now, to make a point:
https://www.futurity.org/ice-on-mars-2073202/
Quote:

Newly discovered layers of ice buried a mile beneath Mars’ north pole are the remnants of ancient polar ice sheets, report researchers.

The point for the above is that there "IS" buried materials, that could be used to terraform Mars.  Is it only water?  Or some CO2?  Clathrates of what?

Could humans dig down to it and carve out huge vaults, extract the volatile materials to help terraform Mars?

Apparent truth that components of a potential biosphere for Mars, have been buried deep.  Might be retrievable.

I want Mars to be crafted into the "Land of 10 Million Lakes".  smile  a clue.

Next post, back to Adsorption.

A break now.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-23 18:58:24)


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#57 2020-05-25 18:44:24

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Will continue after a review of the previous.


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#58 2020-05-26 15:45:19

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

So, I will speculate on many sources of the desired vibrations.

I am not at all the first person who though of geothermal for Mars.
http://marspedia.org/index.php?title=Geothermal_energy

I would think that since digging vaults deep, and extensive would provide space to pressurize, and might also give geothermal energy, it only makes sense, to look into it.  I guess a network of boring tunnels could be established, with some vaults.  Inside of those vaults the ability to drill very much deeper.  But I am not an expert at such things, so I will leave it at that.  But of course if this was done, then geology of Mars could be studied, and also perhaps the discovery of ore bodies of use.

Such a system might not only be geothermal in nature, but simply "Thermal Storage".  Obviously if you have a source of heat, say during a day or summer, you might generate heat into the tubes and wells, and then extract it at other times, and so maybe generate electric power.

-------

And Mars has so many crater basins, it seems logical to fill them with briny water.  As is usual, I intend to cover these with protective lids.  Ice and plastic, Styrofoam ect.  Here again is a place to store thermal energy, for whatever use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_pond

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio … Antarctica

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio … Antarctica
Quote:

Lake Vanda is a meromictic lake with a maximum depth of
about 75 m; the lake lies about 30 km northwest of Lake Bonney in
the Wright Valley (1,2,6). Waters in the upper 50 m of the Lake
Vanda water column are cool, oxic, and oligotrophic, whereas at
about 50 m waters transition to a warm, hypersaline, and anoxic
brine that forms in the bottom 20 m of the lake (2,6,7)(Fig. 1).
The high transparency of the relatively thin Lake Vanda ice cover
allows the deep penetration of solar energy (8,9). Solar heating
warms the water column, with the water temperature gradually
warming from 0°C at the surface to about 12°C at a depth of 50 m
and then rising steadily thereafter to reach a maximum of nearly
25°C on the bottom (6)(Fig. 1A). Besides supplying heat, this deep
influx of solar energy supports a phytoplankton bloom at a 55- to
60-m depth, where the relatively warm temperatures and inor-
ganic nutrients diffusing upward from the brine stimulate photo-
synthesis (10).

I should think that similar things can be constructed on Mars.

And I hope that they would be salty.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-team-elec … ially.html

Might brines on Mars contain Uranium?  Other metals?
Quote:

Fast forward to today, and these compounds have come back into vogue with a wide range of applications, from medicine to nanoscale engineering. For Ménard and fellow UCSB chemistry professor Trevor Hayton, as well as Tel Aviv University chemistry professor Roman Dobrovetsky, carboranes could hold the key to more efficient uranium ion extraction. And that, in turn, could enable things like better nuclear waste reprocessing and uranium (and other metal) recovery from seawater.

I think that modern methods will prove to be good on Mars.  A lake could serve as the radiator for a fission reactor.  If somehow their was a spill, then that lake could be allowed to freeze top to bottom, isolating the radioactive materials.  On Earth you would not be likely to have such an options.

I would expect to use solar power options, which could be associated with Adsorption methods, to extract chemicals from the atmosphere.

Done

Last edited by Void (2020-05-27 09:45:58)


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#59 2020-05-27 09:47:45

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Per the previous post, since it seems likely that Mars once had oceans, and seas, and salt lakes, many materials might be extractable from that reconstituted sea water.  That is a hope anyway.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-team-elec … ially.html
Quote:

Additionally, the electrochemical process could also be applied to uranium extraction from seawater, which would ease pressure on the terrestrial mines where all uranium is currently sourced.
"There's about a thousand times more dissolved uranium in the oceans than there are in all the land mines," Ménard said. Similarly, lithium—another valuable metal that exists in large reserves in seawater—could be extracted this way, and the researchers plan to take this research direction in the near future.

Now it has occurred to me that just possibly the above device would work on Martian atmosphere which is a gas solution.

Maybe you  could pluck out the Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen, Argon, ect.

If so, then Mars itself becomes a chemical energy generator.  I believe that the U.V. would continuously generate more CO and Oxygen.

The dust storms/dust devils may also create some of it.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-27 10:14:13)


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#60 2020-05-27 10:16:21

Void
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Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Well another move of course it to create protective covers for the ice covered lakes.  Then above that various types of solar power, and also attempts to do atmospheric separations using adsorption, thermal swings, and perhaps imposed variable pressure.

Break.


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#61 2020-05-27 11:03:36

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

So, I see no reason not to reach higher from there.

I will get on board with this plan, it begins to make sense.  Every other terraform plan takes lots of time.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … ndlbingill
Quote:

Elon Musk Needs 10,000+ Missiles to Nuke Mars. 'No Problem,' He Says

So, I would add to that, orbital solar power stations.  Rectennas on the ground, maybe even the lakes used as a thermal receiver.
Mirrors
Space Stations, maybe inside of Phobos and/or Demos.

For Demos:
https://www.geekwire.com/2019/safest-be … on-deimos/
Quote:

The safest bet for space settlers? Would you believe it’s inside Mars’ moon Deimos?
by Alan Boyle on September 10, 2019 at 11:28 pm

I believe that there perhaps 2 people here who could like that, (Other than me).

Dune.  A walk now.

Last edited by Void (2020-05-27 11:22:55)


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#62 2020-07-12 12:34:52

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Putting off going for a walk, so, I guess I will post, and wake this topic up.

While participating in a patent search, I encountered someone clever invention, and I think that it may have a use for Atmospheric separations on Mars, and give other benefits as well.  I don't know if someone still has patent rights, so tread lightly.

The device was for a barometric water distillation device.  The problem with those is that they can get air bound.  You put warm water in the bottom, move it up the "Barometer", and it then gets to a lowered pressure where the warm water can boil.  Then you have to use a centrifugal spray separator to get rid of the air born brine droplets.  Then you present it to a cold stream of water, and condense it and drop the result down another barometric pipe.

The problem is that the warm water gets degassed, and the condensation process is not likely to carry that gas away without special tricks.  So, then you loose you greater partial vacuum needed to boil warm water.

This inventors solution was to make the outlet a bundle of small tubes, and so in the chaos of water flow, bubbles would be entrained in the outflow.  The weight of the water being sufficient to cause the slurry of water and bubbles to do down.  The diameter of the tubes being small enough that the bubbles would fill the entire cross section of the tube(s) and could not float up.

I believe he is manipulating the meniscus in the tube(s) https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/wate … er_objects

As the bubbles flowed down, they would compress, until bubbled out at the bottom of the tube(s).

To use the trick on Mars, I think the bubbles would compress so much, that you probably want tubes that taper in, as the flow went down.

To be the most rugged version for Mars, I am thinking of using very cold brine, perhaps of Perchlorates.  You might use this for compressing Martian atmosphere, and also absorbing moisture from the atmosphere.

There is so much ice apparent on Mars, that I think that normally you would not do this just to absorb moisture, but who knows, maybe somewhere where water is hard to come by.  To get the water back out of course you would need a distillation process.

But for now I am looking at compressing the whole of the air entering.  You might want to fan compress the intake a bit, maybe double from 5.5 mbar to 11 mbar before you introduce the air to the cold flowing fluid.

There are good chances that much of the air intake will dissolve into the fluid during pressurization.  So, you would have a separation.  Surviving bubbles may have a mixture different from the original intake air, and dissolved gasses could be removed by vacuum degassing.
That mixture might be different.

So, perhaps two different outputs, and also collection of a small amount of water from the air.

And then I guess hopefully you have a need for one or both of the air mixtures, and process it further for that need.

This supports the notion that you can get water out of air:
https://www.pneumatictips.com/water-com … ir-system/

I find this article a bit annoying, as they do not explain how you get a higher concentration of Oxygen, or if it's amount absorbed is proportional to the other gasses that would be absorbed from the atmosphere.

https://www.space.com/42210-mars-brines … 0mirror%20

Anyway, there is a fluid driven air compressor for Mars, for what it might be worth.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2020-07-12 12:58:02)


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#63 2020-07-12 13:32:16

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,716

Re: Atmospheric Separations

searched for cold brine perchlorate co2 emissions collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration
https://www.pge.utexas.edu/news-2/featu … n-solution

After collection  in the solution one pumps it into a chamber to add heat to the solution that allows the co2 to boil off for collection. Pump the fluid back into the cooling exchanger and then reload it with co2.

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#64 2020-07-13 11:33:00

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Those are useful materials Spacenut, in your post #63.

It does suggest that if we have lakes, we might drill down to aquifers, from perhaps a diving bell or chamber docked to the floor of the lake.
We might try to do some chemical reactions in the lake bottom itself, or in the aquifer.
Here is where I am going with this:
https://www.livescience.com/25032-ancie … found.html
Quote:

"What's most surprising is that there's anything living down there — it's a pretty harsh environment for life to take hold," Doran told OurAmazingPlanet. "There's a mantra that goes, 'wherever on Earth you find water, you find life,' and this is another one of those examples."

Scientists looking for bacteria in the waters of a buried Antarctic lake used a clean room environment to keep the area sterile and avoid introducing contamination.
Scientists looking for bacteria in the waters of a buried Antarctic lake used a clean room environment to keep the area sterile and avoid introducing contamination. (Image credit: Alison Murray, DRI Associate Research Professor)
The brine had very high levels of carbon-based compounds, the building blocks of life. It also possessed high levels of chemicals that generally react with each other, such as nitrous oxide and molecular hydrogen, suggesting they were being regularly replenished — a surprising discovery, given how the lake was isolated for millennia from any obvious external sources of energy to help create them.

The overall chemistry of this brine suggests that chemical reactions between the water and the underlying sediment generated the reactive chemicals seen in the brine. The molecular hydrogen seen in the brine might serve as a fuel source to help support its microbial life, researchers added.

Here I am running with the notion that what is happening is rust of relatively redused  soil materials/aquifer materials, into a more Oxidized chemical.  The result then sometimes or often releases Hydrogen.  We are plucking the Oxygen out of water molecules into the regolith materials and so releasing Hydrogen.  A gift from volcanism, if the regolith is not already Oxidized.  To influence this process we have water, salts, acidity, and temperature.  We may influence many of these to our favor, presuming the favor we want is the release of Hydrogen.  This may also be in part facilitated by microbes, and may also potentially release concentrations of Oxidized materials we might want to refine, perhaps for metals.

So, I have wanted to inject Martian air into these lakes, in the expectation that plant life would consume the CO2, O2, and CO, and leave behind an increasingly accumulation of Nitrogen and Argon, as a resource.  Trouble is there is so, much CO2, that you would have to go slow with it, as you might excessively toxify the water and make it unfriendly for most kinds of life.

In my post #63, I mention a possible atmospheric splitting bubble machine.  Here I am hoping that atmosphere will be split between that that dissolves into the brine, and that which remains a gas.

If we might hope to guess how the separator might work we may query for "Solubility of gasses in water".
Quote: (About solubility of noble gasses in water)
https://www.toppr.com/ask/question/the- … -theorder/
Quote:

Noble gases are sparingly soluble in water and the solubility increases from helium to xenon.

If I understand this, noble gasses are likely to more remain in the gas and less enter the brine solution.  This of course should occur for Argon, I think.

OK, this reference tell more about other gasses as well.  It does appear that CO2 is very soluble in water solutions relative to the others.  Of course the graphs don't show about temperatures far below the freezing point of fresh water, but my presumptions are that it is even more, and we might manipulate temperature and pressure parameters to more get what we want.
OK, this is the reference I failed to previously link: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gase … _1148.html

If we go the solar pond route, we use salts, which can hold significant heat in a briny layer at the bottom of the reservoir.  With CO2 content we can influence acidity.  All of these may be useful in processing the lake bottom, aquifers, and indeed regolith from above such as dust and sand dune materials.

So, we may want to promote this abiotic source of potentially life giving Hydrogen.  And as we wish to have a desired content of CO2 in the water, we can perhaps have microbes consume CO2 and Hydrogen to generate Methane, and biomass.  With the separator, we may be able to inject more closer to the amount of CO2 that we want while accumulating Nitrogen and Argon in the waters, to also be harvested for needs.

As for the natural CO and O2 generated by photolysis in the atmosphere of Mars, I am not certain which path it may take.  It may in part be retained in the remnant gas injected into the lake waters, or be dissolved with CO2 and some Nitrogen and Argon, into the brine fluid of the bubble separator.

The output from the brine where it is then degassed, might be used for other purposes.  For now, I am most interested in our possible ability to maximize a chemosynthetic process conducive to promoting the growth of microbes in the lakes.

If we are not forced to put too much CO2 into the lake waters, then they may be compatible with life that we might also promote, which involves the consumption of photons of the type that life that have the capabilities of photosynthesis.

This could be a win-win situation, in so many ways.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2020-07-13 17:52:32)


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#65 2020-07-13 17:56:25

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

I will just say that it might be possible to frack down to mineral deposits, and mine them while having Hydrogen created.  Also this could be geothermal.

Where CO2 is a liquid at a low temperature and high pressure, a mix of brine and CO2 can be liquid, and if you heat it up, you might "Boil" the CO2 content out, leaving a cold brine after the CO2 flashes off.  Possibly needs some refining to reduce water losses.  This might actually be the brine liquid that comes out of the bubble separator.

As mentioned this could be a mining process.  When the CO2 boiled off, and the brine cooled, good chances minerals would precipitate out.

But no, if there are Martian organisms in the aquifer, then no do.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2020-07-13 18:01:20)


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#66 2020-07-24 07:18:30

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

An article with this title was encountered by myself this morning in search for something else.

It is of interest, so I will look into it here later.

"Plasma Based CH4 Conversion into Higer Hydrocarbons and H2-Modeling to Reveal the Reaction Mechanisms of Different Plasma Sources".

ncbi.nim.nih.gov./pmc/article???

Queries of that phrase offer alternate articles.

Basically cooking methods for cooking Methane, and also it touches on cooking CO2.  Various types of "Ovens".

The production of H2 by a dry arc reformation of CH4 into "H2" and so called "Higher Hydrocarbons".

Some mention that it can be turned on and off very quickly, and so could be compatible with solar power.

To me, this suggests that for Mars, it could be a path to chemicals to link to biologically productive Chemosynthetic processes.  Also I suspect a method to obtain lubricants, and on the path to plastics.

I estimate that 90 percent of it is beyond my mental capabilities, but still I think I can extract enough to speculate on uses for Mars.

Taking a break for breakfast, so might get back to this later.

Done

Last edited by Void (2020-07-24 07:22:42)


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#67 2020-07-24 08:24:42

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Continuing on the lines of the just previous post, this article, is a bit more understood by myself:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c00082#
Quote(s):

Plasma-Based CH4 Conversion into Higher Hydrocarbons and H2: Modeling to Reveal the Reaction Mechanisms of Different Plasma Sources

Abstract

Plasma is gaining interest for CH4 conversion into higher hydrocarbons and H2. However, the performance in terms of conversion and selectivity toward different hydrocarbons is different for different plasma types, and the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we study here these mechanisms in different plasma sources, by means of a chemical kinetics model. The model is first validated by comparing the calculated conversions and hydrocarbon/H2 selectivities with experimental results in these different plasma types and over a wide range of specific energy input (SEI) values. Our model predicts that vibrational–translational nonequilibrium is negligible in all CH4 plasmas investigated, and instead, thermal conversion is important. Higher gas temperatures also lead to a more selective production of unsaturated hydrocarbons (mainly C2H2) due to neutral dissociation of CH4 and subsequent dehydrogenation processes, while three-body recombination reactions into saturated hydrocarbons (mainly C2H6, but also higher hydrocarbons) are dominant in low temperature plasmas.

And you can dig into the rest if you want.

I do understand that these are emerging and not mature processes, and yet I see that they could be rather good for working with the Martian environment.  So, I feel they are worth attention.

As they produce H2 and so called "Higher Hydrocarbons", I can see where they could drive an ecosystem to benefit humans, and also be on the path to the manufacture goods from the "Higher Hydrocarbons".

Efficiencies for some of the processes may be questionable, unless they create something needed.

It is possible that waste heat could be captured in a reservoir of water, so that it is not entirely a "Wasted" loss of value.
So the products may be:
-H2
-Higher Hydrocarbons
-Waste heat to melt ice.

In a biological chamber, probably an ice covered reservoir of water on Mars, Hydrogen and Martian atmospheric gasses could be introduced at a metered rate, for microbes to consume.  The results may be the production of Methane, biological detritus, and a concentrating of the gasses Argon and Nitrogen in the water.  The consumption of the Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, and Oxygen introduced from the Martian atmosphere being likely.

So the products may be:
-An extractable mix of Methane, Nitrogen, and Argon.
-Biological detritus.

The mix of gasses could be further treated to extract Nitrogen and Argon, leaving a greater concentration remnant of Methane dominated gas.  That could then be run through the Plasma reactors again.  And to some degree, the Methane could be dumped to the Martian atmosphere as a greenhouse gas as desired.

The Biological detritus could be used to feed some types of livestock.  Fish, Mushrooms.  For both of course Oxygen is also needed.

This process could be connected to:
"Index» Life support systems» Converting Slabs of ice into seas. Brine Resouces.".   Post #95 being significant, but prior posts may be connectable as well.  I don't want to replicate all of that here, so I will establish a cross reference.

Last edited by Void (2020-07-24 08:56:52)


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#69 2023-03-11 18:01:40

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Well, I think I will rehome this orphan to this topic:
http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 61#p207361
Quote:

Well, so much for that.  I am going to switch to a Martian topic, and here is a place for this orphan to dwell for a time, so that it does not get depowered by another "Mission to Earth" diversion: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 40#p207340
Quote:

Maybe what you want is this, for Hydrogen and CO especially.

If there is an enzyme that works for Hydrogen and then there should be one that works for CO and Oxygen, and Mars has those in its atmosphere, already made, and perhaps renewable.

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-green-tec … 0Geobacter.

There are microbes that Eat Hydrogen and CO from the Earth's air.

I have been searching for a long time for a method to utilize that resource on Mars.

https://newatlas.com/biology/air-eating … ica-artic/
Quote:

In 2017, the UNSW researchers discovered bacteria in Antarctica that gained their energy from a new source – the air itself. In low-nutrient soil, these bugs instead pull hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide out of the air around them, allowing them to thrive in environments where there’s very little other life. This phenomenon is known as atmospheric chemosynthesis.

And now in a follow-up study, the team has found that this ability may not be limited to Antarctica. The researchers found that the two genes previously linked to atmospheric chemosynthesis are abundant in soil in two other similar environments – the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau.

They don't seem to say it, but these microbes also eat Hydrogen and that is how they get water in cold dry deserts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars
Quote:

General information[2]
Average surface pressure    610 Pa (0.088 psi; 4.6 mmHg; 0.0060 atm)
Mass    2.5x1016 kg[1]
Composition[3][4]
Carbon dioxide    95%
Nitrogen    2.8%
Argon    2%
Oxygen    0.174%
Carbon monoxide    0.0747%
Water vapor    0.03% (variable)

That amount of CO in Earth's atmosphere would be deadly, I think.  So, it is more than is here, as likely microbes eat it here.  This may suggest that microbes of that type do not live on Mars in abundance.  There is more Oxygen on Mars than CO, but there is both.

Mars almost certainly has Hydrogen in its atmosphere as well.

But if we were to inject water vapor up to high altitudes on Mars, then we might bump up the amount of Hydrogen and Oxygen in the Martian atmosphere.

So, if we could tap into that energy supply, Mars would be a giant solar collector, powered by hard radiation and UV light.

It would be available at all times.

Done.

I think the above is too valuable to allow it to be ignored.

For a moment we could consider it to be a device for many places, including Earth as well.

This query then: "Generating Hydrogen with Sunlight"
General Response:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=Generatin … cc=0&ghpl=
So, there are any number of methods contemplated.

The thing about the discovery of the Enzyme from the microbe, is that it can work from small concentrations, and you do not have to separate the fuel and Oxygen from the damper gas.  On Mars, the damper gasses might be CO2, Nitrogen, Argon.  So you may have concentrations of Fuel and Oxygen below the Lower Explosive Limits, and below the Lower Flammable Limits, and a method may be developed to generate electricity from that, saving a lot of trouble.

Catalysts and solar concentrators can be involved.

It is almost certain that there is an enzyme that would work with CO or CH4, contrasted with O2.

It is conceivable that a bioreactor could be created where you may compress the Martian atmosphere a bit, and add a pinch of moisture, and you will get out and this would work 24/7 even in dust storms.

So, not a done deal but a place which may merit a drill down.

Done.

So here is the deal, there are ways that molecules end up in disequilibrium, and such a situation is possibly usable.

Antonius believed to have solved for an energy method to use the Martian CO and O2.  I presume it may well be true.  Calliban has ideas as well.

But what has fallen in our lap is the discovery of enzymes that can digest traces of Hydrogen in the atmosphere and produce electricity.  Nature found this for life long ago.  Other chemicals that microbes eat are CO and Methane.  So, we might want to hunt for that process as well.  I we can find organisms or mimic their processes for eating atmospheric gasses, then we do not have to work so hard to separate gasses.  This would be quite a lot like fuel cell power.

Posts #66 and #67 suggest how to use plasma to fragment CO2 and H20 into other chemicals not in equilibrium.  That looks very good, and yet will still leave us wanting in a dust storm on Mars.

The Natural CO and O2 and the presumed tiny amount of Hydrogen in the atmosphere are attractive for the notion that a power supply based on Microbes may be possible from them.  Also, the Microbes themselves may be a useful organic material.

These are curious methods.  I anticipate that nuclear waste and natural radiation may be used to induce useful chemicals that could be utilized.  This naturally happens in ocean sediments and supports a biosphere.

I think I will leave it there for now.

Done

Last edited by Void (2023-03-11 18:12:36)


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#70 2023-03-12 03:48:55

Calliban
Member
From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
Posts: 3,335

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Void, it is an interesting idea.  But the atmosphere is a thin gruel that is 95% carbon dioxide.  To make use of the CO/O2, you must first compress the gas and remove the CO2.  That is going to be quite energy consuming, even though the atmosphere is quite cold.  What you are left with is about 95% N2/Ar, in roughly equal proportions.  You might be able to build a machine that can recover some useful energy from the CO.  That energy is byproduct, that will contribute some of the energy needed to carry out the atmospheric seperations.  It won't be an energy source, but does provide a kind of energy subsidy.  As we need lots of N2/Ar to produce breathing gas and fertiliser, a CO/O2 engine is something we will probably end up building.

On Earth, we use sewage gas to power spark ignition engines or small GTs at water treatment works.  That isn't enough to turn sewage treatment into a net energy source.  But it is a bonus that provides some energy return on an otherwise energy consuming process.  The CO/O2 engine will be much the same.


"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

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#71 2023-03-12 08:12:10

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

That is a path that can be attempted, Antius worked on it with Cryogenics and Centrifuges.

But the root of my return to this topic was that I saw that another route exists which nature has provided, to gain something from processes that generate a non-explosive mix in disequilibrium.

This again is yet another example of how I try to take a new path and the membership insist on circling back to old solutions.

The pathway available is biological, or possibly the mimicking of biology using enzymes that biology apparently invented a long time ago.

Apparently, you read all the materials which have encased this article, as I have moved the text from topic to topic.  Please read this article:
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-green-tec … 0Geobacter
Quote:

New green technology generates electricity 'out of thin air'
by University of Massachusetts Amherst


Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a device that uses a natural protein to create electricity from moisture in the air, a new technology they say could have significant implications for the future of renewable energy, climate change and in the future of medicine.


As reported today in Nature, the laboratories of electrical engineer Jun Yao and microbiologist Derek Lovley at UMass Amherst have created a device they call an "Air-gen." or air-powered generator, with electrically conductive protein nanowires produced by the microbe Geobacter. The Air-gen connects electrodes to the protein nanowires in such a way that electrical current is generated from the water vapor naturally present in the atmosphere.

"We are literally making electricity out of thin air," says Yao. "The Air-gen generates clean energy 24/7." Lovely, who has advanced sustainable biology-based electronic materials over three decades, adds, "It's the most amazing and exciting application of protein nanowires yet."

The new technology developed in Yao's lab is non-polluting, renewable and low-cost. It can generate power even in areas with extremely low humidity such as the Sahara Desert. It has significant advantages over other forms of renewable energy including solar and wind, Lovley says, because unlike these other renewable energy sources, the Air-gen does not require sunlight or wind, and "it even works indoors."

The Air-gen device requires only a thin film of protein nanowires less than 10 microns thick, the researchers explain. The bottom of the film rests on an electrode, while a smaller electrode that covers only part of the nanowire film sits on top. The film adsorbs water vapor from the atmosphere. A combination of the electrical conductivity and surface chemistry of the protein nanowires, coupled with the fine pores between the nanowires within the film, establishes the conditions that generate an electrical current between the two electrodes.

The researchers say that the current generation of Air-gen devices are able to power small electronics, and they expect to bring the invention to commercial scale soon. Next steps they plan include developing a small Air-gen "patch" that can power electronic wearables such as health and fitness monitors and smart watches, which would eliminate the requirement for traditional batteries. They also hope to develop Air-gens to apply to cell phones to eliminate periodic charging.


Yao says, "The ultimate goal is to make large-scale systems. For example, the technology might be incorporated into wall paint that could help power your home. Or, we may develop stand-alone air-powered generators that supply electricity off the grid. Once we get to an industrial scale for wire production, I fully expect that we can make large systems that will make a major contribution to sustainable energy production."

Continuing to advance the practical biological capabilities of Geobacter, Lovley's lab recently developed a new microbial strain to more rapidly and inexpensively mass produce protein nanowires. "We turned E. coli into a protein nanowire factory," he says. "With this new scalable process, protein nanowire supply will no longer be a bottleneck to developing these applications."

The Air-gen discovery reflects an unusual interdisciplinary collaboration, they say. Lovley discovered the Geobacter microbe in the mud of the Potomac River more than 30 years ago. His lab later discovered its ability to produce electrically conductive protein nanowires. Before coming to UMass Amherst, Yao had worked for years at Harvard University, where he engineered electronic devices with silicon nanowires. They joined forces to see if useful electronic devices could be made with the protein nanowires harvested from Geobacter.

Xiaomeng Liu, a Ph.D. student in Yao's lab, was developing sensor devices when he noticed something unexpected. He recalls, "I saw that when the nanowires were contacted with electrodes in a specific way the devices generated a current. I found that that exposure to atmospheric humidity was essential and that protein nanowires adsorbed water, producing a voltage gradient across the device."

In addition to the Air-gen, Yao's laboratory has developed several other applications with the protein nanowires. "This is just the beginning of new era of protein-based electronic devices" said Yao.

More information: Power generation from ambient humidity using protein nanowires, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2010-9 , nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2010-9

Journal information: Nature

Provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst

Now, this is a tiny amount of power they can generate from tiny amounts of Hydrogen in the N2/O2 atmospheric mix.

In Antarctica, microbes live off of such tract Hydrogen and trace CO.  Such also exist elsewhere.  There are microbes which also consume Methane that comes out of the ground though trees.  They live in tree bark, but I will bet that there are also Methane eaters that live in the soil.

In the ocean sediments are microbes that live off of the trace gasses that radioactive decay produce.  It is a very large ecosystem.

So, hard radiation which can split molecules is a pathway to chemosynthesis, in nature, and on this planet.  It has been suspected that for Europa, radiation may give oxygen to the waters below, provided that ice from above can get to the waters below.  Now on Mars, we perhaps have a method to drive a chemosynthetic biology using CO and O2.  I am of the mind that Hydrogen is also available on Mars in small amounts.

This may suggest how life learned to work with such chemistry on Earth, long before Photosynthesis may have emerged from such a process.  If you think about it, plants assist a radiation that we call visible light to split molecules to produce stored chemical energy.

So, this brings me to  wonder if you could have a reactor which would split H20 or CO2 into Oxygen and fuel molecules and drive a chemosynthesis process.  I would imagine it would produce such, but it might also produce unwanted isotopes, through transmutation.

The use of hard radiation to produce Methane as a greenhouse gas for Mars might be a strange option, I think.  Maybe.

Plasma may be another route: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-mission-m … omposition.

So, if by a method you could produce minority gasses in a gas mixture, or a liquid mixture, that might remain below the LEL or LFL.

(Lower Explosive Limits, Lower Flammable Limits).

As it happens Mars appears to have generated such a mixture in its atmosphere.

So, it might be possible to run a biosphere off of Martian atmosphere, consuming the CO and some of the O2.

In the case of trace Hydrogen, we know that Microbes and their enzyme can also generate electricity.

So, my notion is that an enzyme that processes CO should exist also.

This leaves a possible path for invention.  Can we work with microbes or their enzymes to produce electricity from the natural atmosphere of Mars?  Or can we create biomass of microbes?  Either or both would be useful.

And while the natural mix of Mars is of great interest, can we run a biosphere from either hard radiation and UV, or a plasma method.

------

A relatively simple method would be to inject Martian atmosphere into a container of water with nutrients and see if microbes will use the CO and O2 to generate biomass.  And then the harder part is to generate electricity.  The process might create Methane or some other fuel.

How you then process the CO2, Nitrogen and Argon, may have many solutions.

An alternative would be to process Martian atmosphere with membranes as like Reverse Osmosis.  Dust would be a problem needing handling.  But you might get everything except the CO2 to pass though the membranes.

That would greatly amplify, the propellants in the mix where CO2 was rejected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars
Quote:

General information[2]
Average surface pressure    610 Pa (0.088 psi; 4.6 mmHg; 0.0060 atm)
Mass    2.5x1016 kg[1]
Composition[3][4]
Carbon dioxide    95%
Nitrogen    2.8%
Argon    2%
Oxygen    0.174%
Carbon monoxide    0.0747%
Water vapor    0.03% (variable)

So, you would have the remaining 5% that is not CO2.

A different path would be to freeze out the CO2, but I fear that the trace gasses would be locket into the dry ice.  But I don't know.

So, the 5% is 1/20th of the atmosphere.  The mix then would be;
56% Nitrogen
40% Argon
3.48% Oxygen
1.494% CO

That would require perfect separations though.

When we say that the CO and O2 are such a tiny content, I would have to ask, what percentage of the mass of water in the sea is free Oxygen?  But fish get the Oxygen they need though their gills.

I would have liked to get these gasses out of the Martian atmosphere with Hemoglobin.  But CO clogs Hemoglobin, being more attractive to it than even Oxygen.

But that is the actual thing I am trying for is gills for Mars, to get and use the molecules which have an energy potential.

But it is not wrong to take the other route, of separating the gasses.  Antius tried to work on that.  My fear is that if you liquify the CO, then the trace gasses will dissolve in the liquid CO2 and so not be available.

So, what you say is not wrong, it is just a different path.  I am trying to take the less used path.  Failure is quite possible, but I wash to keep the option of seeking to be continuing.

If we were to terraform Callisto and Ganymede, and provide a CO2 atmosphere, then it is possible that the radiation of Jupiter's magnetic field would also generate chemicals.

So, then that is a curious notion, if you put a canister of CO2 and/or H20, into the Jupiter radiation belts, or our Van Allen belt, could you produce useful chemicals?  To be sure my expectation is that the canister would have transmutation occurring so then not necessarily what you want.  I would prefer the splitting of Molecules not atoms.

So, we are both OK to take a path to try to get uses, but the pathways are not identical.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Pe … C2&first=1

Done.

Last edited by Void (2023-03-12 09:48:42)


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#72 2023-03-15 10:53:13

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,931

Re: Atmospheric Separations

Query: "Cyanobacteria Produce Hydrogen in low Nitrogen Martian simulation"

General Response: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Cyanobact … 5787fca906

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-biotech-r … teria.html

Well anyway, other articles seemed to indicate that in a simulation of using Mars atmosphere, the now Nitrogen, may cause the Cyanobacteria to produce some Hydrogen.

I think productive pressures could include 50 mb, but I recall that maybe a few microbes can grow at the Tripple point of water.

For me, of course 50 mbar of pressure could easily be create with 5 feet of clear ice on Mars.

And you might get food, Oxygen, and Hydrogen.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2023-03-15 10:58:34)


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