By 
December 27th, 2024
Image credit: LIQUIFER, based on MidJourney/DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
A team of researchers from Germany, Austria, Poland and Italy are hard at work designing and testing a novel extractor technique for the prospect of using water ice found on the Moon.
The LUWEX group’s “downstream” goal is to be able to process kilograms of lunar regolith containing enough water ice to support a purification process.
An Earth-based demonstration system is under appraisal, operating under a similar low pressure and low temperature environment as on the Moon.
LUWEX has been funded by the European Union, focused on validation of lunar water extraction and purification technologies for on-the-spot propellant and consumables production.
Image credit: LUWEX Project
Lab testing
“To test the system in the laboratory, a mix from water ice particles and lunar regolith simulant will substitute for real lunar sand as is expected to be found in some craters at the lunar south polar region,” explain the LUWEX specialists.
“By applying heat, the vaporizing water is extracted and collected. After liquefaction, the raw water is put through a purification process. The purified water is then ready for use in the form of propellant, for energy storage and for life support…or for a glass of Adam’s ale from the Moon,” the researchers point out.
The icy regolith simulant just after mixing in the ice particles. This process is done under cryogenic temperatures.
Image credit: LUWEX Project
Consortium partners
LUWEX technologists involve Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany, LIQUIFER Systems Group, Austria, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, Scanway sp. z o. o., Poland, Wroclaw University for Science and Technology, Poland, as well as Thales Alenia Space in Italy.
The LUWEX project is developing and validating technologies for extracting, purifying, and monitoring lunar water.
Their intent is to advance In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on the Moon to support sustainable space exploration.
Fundamental physics and engineering
“By harnessing lunar water for astronaut needs, radiation shielding, and rocket fuel, LUWEX reduces reliance on Earth-bound supplies, paving the way for long-duration missions,” the group points out. “Using icy lunar dust simulants in a thermal-vacuum chamber, the project tests a complete water process chain to elevate its Technology Readiness Level (TRL).”
Paul Zabel examines two samples of extracted water: on the left, cleaned by the Thales Alenia Space processing system, and on the right, still contaminated with regolith
Image credit: TU Braunschweig
Explains Paul Zabel of the German Aerospace Center, “we don’t know yet how the water ice regolith mixture behaves, when we warm it up, and how the water vapor forms where it flows. There is a lot of fundamental research questions involved in this project. And that makes it really exciting because it’s a combination of fundamental physics, and engineering.”
Adds Barbara Imhof of the LIQUIFER Systems Group, “we have to look at what we really need, what we can take from the location we are at, and how we can always keep resources in a loop because it is very cumbersome to source materials, and goods we need for the everyday life. We really need to take good care of what we have.”
For detailed information on the LUWEX work, go to:
https://liquifer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LUWEX-_brochure_web.pdf
Also, visit the LUWEX website at:
Posted in Space News
