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#1 2026-02-12 22:11:39
- Void
- Member
- Registered: 2011-12-29
- Posts: 9,287
Flash Recycling
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https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/r … &FORM=VIRE Quote:
Flash Recycling: The Circular Economy Weapon Against China
YouTube
Dr. James Tour
90 views
The main focus of the video is recycling, but have the impression that the methods may be used on the Moon and Mars.
https://tech.news.am/eng/news/5704/chlo … ature.html
Does the Moon have Chlorine? Quote:
Yes
Yes, the Moon does contain chlorine. Recent studies have shown that lunar rocks, particularly those collected during the Apollo missions, exhibit elevated levels of chlorine, indicating that the Moon has a chemical composition that includes chlorine. This chlorine isotope fractionation suggests that the Moon's history involved significant processes, such as volcanic activity and meteorite impacts, which contributed to its chemical composition.
Quote:
Researchers link this difference to the presence of metal chloride vapors, which were likely concentrated only above the near side. These vapors may have formed due to degassing during basaltic eruptions, as well as from meteorite impacts that induced chemical changes in the rocks. On the near side, these processes led to enrichment of the surface with chlorine and other volatile elements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spodumene
In the video Spodumene is said to have 5% Lithium and it seems their process can extract it.
And of course, Mars has Sodium Chloride.
I I understand the video correctly Chlorine can bond with some metals like Iron and very strongly lower the boiling point of the metals, such as Iron.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_chloride
Quote:
(anhydrous)
37 °C (99 °F; 310 K) (hexahydrate)[1]
Boiling point
316 °C (601 °F; 589 K) (anhydrous, decomposes)[1]
280 °C (536 °F; 553 K) (hexahydrate, decomposes)
So, I am guessing it can displace Oxygen from Iron Oxide???
But then how do you separate the Iron and Chlorine?
I am thinking that the desire is to reuse the Chlorine repeatedly.
But I have not found a reference as to how to separate the Iron and Chlorine. It may be difficult.
It may be the electrolysis of some kind could be used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_production
Of course, Chlorine is dangerous.
I think that I read that Kreep has Chlorine in it.
https://lunarpedia.org/w/KREEP#:~:text= … 0zirconium.
Quote:
KREEP is an acronym used in geochemistry to represent a mixture of K- potassium, REE- rare earth elements, and P- phosphorus. It is not only the main source of these elements on the moon, but also many other trace elements such as uranium, thorium, fluorine, chlorine, and zirconium.
It is quite possible that I have misunderstood some of the presentation but, it seems like it could provide some critical resources in outer space.
Since SpaceX has a stronger interest in the Moon, this seems important.
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Last edited by Void (2026-02-12 22:43:07)
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#2 2026-02-12 23:01:59
- Void
- Member
- Registered: 2011-12-29
- Posts: 9,287
Re: Flash Recycling
How weird. Within a few minutes of my post #1, this video showed up on Utube:
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/r … ORM=VAMGZC Quote:
A new way to make steel competitively at room temperature
YouTube
Rowow
1.8K views
So, the video seems to answer hot to separate the Iron from the acid with the Chlorine in it.
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Last edited by Void (2026-02-12 23:03:18)
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#3 Yesterday 07:22:12
- Calliban
- Member
- From: Northern England, UK
- Registered: 2019-08-18
- Posts: 4,304
Re: Flash Recycling
Thanks Void, that is fascinating. To summerise: Chlorine is one of the most electronegative elements on the periodic table, beaten only by flourine. When material is vaporised in the presence of chlorine gas, it reliably reacts to produce chlorides. These have relatively low boiling points, allowing different metal chlorides to be seperated from mixtures with high selectivity. We can then reverse the process, producing pure elements from the seperated chlorides using electrolysis.
The use of electric arcs to generate the chlorides and electrolysis to reduce the chlorides, makes this relatively energy intensive. However, in high Earth orbit, sunlight is available 24/7 without interuption. This should make electricity cheap. This process can be applied to lunar ores to produce bulk metals as well as extracting trace elements.
Chlorine is relatively rare on the moon, but can be recycled. In the longer term, it is a common element in Martian soil. This is one of the volatile elements that a Mars colony could end up exporting to HEO.
Last edited by Calliban (Yesterday 07:25:14)
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