New Mars Forums

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,383

Practical Separation of Elements for Fun and Profit

Separation of atoms from each other is a capability required for advanced civilization.

My intention (and hope) for this topic is to collect specific examples of atom separation technology.

There should be no occasion for opinion in this topic.

What i am looking for are citations of specific atom separation technologies that can be searched by future readers of this forum.

Posts which elaborate upon citations, and (specifically) attempt to translate scientific or engineering jargon into generally recognized English would be welcome.

I am looking for ** every ** separation technology that exists (a) and for future technologies that can be imagined (b).

An example of a future technology that exists today is magnetic separation of atoms in vacuum.

The specific example I am thinking about is in research at the University of Texas at El Paso.  A presentation on the subject was given to the North Houston chapter of the National Space Society late in 2021. A video recording of that presentation is available for public viewing at northhoustonspace.org.

(th)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,431

Re: Practical Separation of Elements for Fun and Profit

This is a special item for SpaceNut ....

The English language sometimes gets the better of me ....

I tried to create a new topic about the specific problem of separating the components of a mixture, because that is a leading challenge of the present age.

However, your interpretation of the title I gave the topic helped me to realize I had not written the words that are needed.

I'm tossing the problem of how to word the topic back your way for a bit of back and forth ... I won't create any more topics until we've worked through the challenge of finding the right words.

I want to create a topic that enlists the talent we have available in the NewMars forum to deal with the challenge of separating molecules from each other in a mixture.  This is not a chemical process.... it is strictly a physical process.  However, chemists often use chemical processes to accomplish the needed separation, by taking advantage of the affinity of certain atoms for others.  After the desired molecules are captured by a chemical process, the results of that process can (sometimes) be carried off more easily.  For example, some processes cause desirable molecules to be lifted to the top of a mixture, or delivered to the bottom of a container.

Examples of physical separation are using filters of various grades to allow smaller particles to slip through, while keeping larger ones from continuing.

However, filtration is only ** one ** strategy of many strategies that can be brought to bear on a mixture, to try to isolate the various components.

In the case of Uranium separation, for example, gas separation is a strategy, and the use of centrifuges is another.

During World War II, (as I understand the history) the US invested in both strategies because it was not clear which was superior.

(th)

Mixtures are no homogeneous containing a variety of elements not evenly dispersed through out the combination.

Rocks are just that as not all of the same colored or grain type are of the same mineral element content or percentage through out.

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7579

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7344

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7522

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9493

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9044

I know that RobertDyck has done posts about the processing of specific rock types to gain from them Aluminum and other content.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,431

Re: Practical Separation of Elements for Fun and Profit

example of ore for mars would contain iron but its in a variety of oxides

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

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

the formula of mackinawite is given as (Fe,Ni)9S8, meaning FexNi9-xS8, where x is a variable number between 0 and 9. Sometimes a mineral with variable composition is split into separate species, more or less arbitrarily, forming a mineral group; that is the case of the silicates CaxMgyFe2-x-ySiO4, the olivine group.

So crush and pulverize to powder and the use magnets, water, acids, hydrogen, chlorides to do reduction of material as well as heat to smelt....