Off Earth Mining Water Extraction - Mars Mining Model (WEM³)

Transcription

1 Off Earth Mining Water Extraction - Mars Mining Model (WEM³) René Fradet Deputy Director for Engineering & Science Directorate Dr Robert Shishko Principal Systems Engineer / Economist

2 Acknowledgements AN INTEGRATED ECONOMIC MODEL FOR ISRU IN SUPPORT OF A MARS COLONY - NASA Office of Emerging Space NRA NNA14ZVP001K

3 Mars Colony Architecture Model (MCAM) MCAM HabNet WEM³ Economic Valuation Buzz Aldrin Deploys Apollo 11 Experiments. NASA, 2015 Drilling Motors. /drilling_motors.htm Home On the Moon: How to Build a Lunar Colony Space.com, 2013 Curiosity Rover. NASA, 2015 Zacny et al., 2012 Modified from NASA, 2015 Physiological factors determine the required amount of water. Technical restrictions determine que type/number of resources required for water extraction

4 Mars Exploration Evolution Mars Odyssey MGS MRO Mariner 9 Mariner 4 Mars Observer MCO MCO: MER: MGS: MPL: MRO: MSL: Mars Climate Orbiter Mars Exploration Rover Mars Global Surveyor Mars Polar Lander Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Science Laboratory Viking 2 Viking 1 MPL- Deep Space 2 Pathfinder MER Spirit Phoenix MER Opportunity MSL Curiosity InSight Mars 2020 Modified from NASA, 2015

5 On Earth Mining System Open Pit Haulage Empty (t04) Loading (t01) Downloading (t03) Haulage Load (t02)

6 Prospective Off Earth Mining Systems TBM MISWE Drilling Motors. Zacny et al., 2012 Graphics TBM Animation Reel Water extraction test set-up Mars soil simulant (JSC-1A): 12 wt % water

7 OEM Adaptation MISWE Drilling Ice Column Lift Loading Displacement to Next Drilling Point Zacny et al., 2012 (d-t) (icl-t) (m-t) (l-t) Drilling Cycle time (DCT) DCT = (d-t) + (icl-t) +(l-t) +m-t) MISWE Performance (litre H20/h) = III CCCCCC VVVVVV m 3 H % 1111( l m 3 ) DDT(mmm/66)

8 OEM Adaptation MISWE Haulage Load (hl-t01) Loading (l-t01) Haulage Empty to the First MISWE (hem-t) Haulage Load (hl-t(n-1)) Loading (l-t02) Loading (l-t(n-1)) Dumping (d-t) Haulage Load (hl-tn) Loading (l-tn) Haulage Load to Dumping Point (hld-t) n L&H Cycle Time = 1(hh t) i + n 1 (l t) i + hhh t + hhh t + (d t)

9 OEM Adaptation TBM Haulage Empty (he-t) Loading (l-t) Dumping (d-t) Graphics TBM Animation Reel Haulage Load (hl-t) L&H Cycle Time = (l-t) + (hl-t) +(he-t)+ (d-t)

10 WEM³- Optimisation Process 1. Linear programing optimisation technique. Optimisation tool solve provided by Excel. 2. Technical (equipment) and geological restrictions are the main inputs. Best knowledge/understanding available till today. 3. Reaching target or maximising performance. Reaching Target: The number of people feed by water is set, thus the optimisation seeks for the best configuration (equipment number, distance between installations and drilling depth). Maximising Performance: Based on a number of available equipment (assumption) solve calculate the optimal configuration of the system to reach the maximum performance.

11 WEM³ - Assumptions Mine systems evaluation based on Equatorial region conditions. Water contained in regolith: 12% A model was run based on human drinkable water requirement (2,4 litres/day) for space missions. Water recovery: MISWE = 87%, Processing plant 83% (due to the scale). Transporter Speed: Four times than current rover s speed and capable to carry 200 kg.

12 Daily Water Consumption Rate Home On the Moon: How to Build a Lunar Colony Production of Hydrogen. Production from electricity by means of electrolysis. HyWeb: Knowledge Hydrogen in the Energy Sector. Bjørnar, Sondre and Buch, "Hydrogen Status and Possibilities. Development of water electrolysis in the European Union,2014.

13 WEM³ - Configuration Representative Scheme Model Setting (Input) Optimisation Restrictions Optimisation Consistency 1 Data Record 7 6 Results

14 WEM³ - Flow

15 System 01 : MISWE + Transporter Emulating the traditional truck & shovel configuration. MISWE used for drilling and regolith recovering. Transporters carried the material to a processing plant. While required transporters and processing plant remain stable, MISWE increases significantly. 75% utilisation over 25 Supported People (SP). Transporter and processing plant has low utilisation at low production rate. Capacity review may improve it. More efficient over 20 SP.

16 System 02 : TBM + Transporter Emulating a continuous underground mine or tunnel developing. TBM are used as a continuous drilling machines. Transporters carried the material to a processing plant. Close relation between the number of transporters and TBM. Slightly increasing insofar as water production increases. 75% utilisation over 35 SP. Distance between processing plant and drilling site is key. Seems to be more efficient than System 01.

17 System 03 : MISWE (Original config.) Original design of MISWE. Drilling, processing and hauling extracted water to a downloading point. Significant increasing of required MISWE. Always run at 100% utilisation. The large number of MISWE operating in a short distance to stock point may lead in operational issues and delays. Lowest efficiency. (comparison) More flexible at low production rate. Not recommended for high production (more than 20 SP).

18 Analysis - Sensitivity In comparison to the systems that use external processing plant, MISWE (Original Design) is largely more sensitive to water volume increasing, Equipment number remain stable for systems 2 and 3 due to high performance and not full equipment utilisation.

19 Analysis Returns to Scale Marginal Cost (US$/l) EE IIIII uuuu l TTTTT EEEEE. NNNNNN (uuuu) ER = WWWWW PPPPPPPPPP l Economic returns to scale not only works for Earth s projects but also seems to work for OEM. The performance of MISWE (original design) is more efficient at very low water requirements. Systems that use processing plants are more efficient and stable at high production rates. A balance between equipment number and production rate may be found in the intersection of scale return (current graph) and marginal cost curves.

20 WEM³ - Mars Landing Site Forum (Aram Chaos) Target: Maximise performance subject to restrictions. Target: Provide enough water supply for a crew of four (4) people. Optimisation: Distance between Region of Interest (ROI) and Landing Site (LS). Assumptions: 1. Mining systems evaluation based on Aram Chaos. 2. Water Contained in regolith (WC%): 3% to 7% (5% is the base case). 3. The model has been run based on human drinkable water requirement (3.66 litres/day) for space missions. 4. Equipment: Water recovery: 87 (%) Water storage capacity 5 (l) Drilling rate: 1 (m/h) Speed: 2,4 (m/min)

21 WEM³ - Mars Landing Site Forum (Aram Chaos) MISWE Original Configuration Drilling, processing a haulage liquid water from ROI to LS. Each equipment works independently. Able to return only after the onboard tank is filled. A drilling depth of 2,5 meters is required for processing. 3 to 7 drilling cycles are required to full fill the storage tank on-board of the equipment. (Based on WC%)

22 Results Intensive use of equipment. Heavy launching weight concerns The More Flexibility. Distance management to face WC% fluctuation WC% High risk during haulage activities. Water supply may not be assured by using less than 3 equipment. WC% have the most significant impact for distance. 3% WC reduces the distance ~1,2 km. 7% WC rise distance ~ 0,5 km. The low speed the MISWE increases dramatically the haulage cycle time for long distance

23 MCAM Conclusion & Recommendations MISWE system shows more flexibility for low crew number. MISWE may be used for the first exploration stage and TBM system construction. MISWE system shows theoretical viability; however, the low processing performance, low speed and very selective drilling method may increases the risk of the mission in terms of continuous water supply. Low utilisation of equipment in external processing plant configurations may be used as a back-up decreasing the risks of continuous water supply failure. TBM shows the highest performance at large scale. Can be also suitable for low scale if tailored.

24 Conclusion & Recommendations (Contd) MCAM Due to low equipment required, TBM systems seems to reduce launching weight and unitary production cost of water. Improve technical assumption of TBM system to work in Mars is highly required. Assessing geological uncertainties and the applicability of the systems in Mars Polar regions is required. By including marginal cost law as unitary launching weight for each configuration the optimal configuration system/crew may be choose.

25 Conclusion & Recommendations Landing Site 5 to 6 MISWE in a distance no longer than m seems to provide the most suitable configuration. Reasonable time cycle not longer than 24 hours and able to deal with unpredictable low WC% by reducing distance. The system has the capacity to reach long distances; however, it may increase extraction risks due to the long cycle time and amount of resources required to face any eventual rescue mission if technical problems arise. WC% generates the most sensitiveness for the system, thus acquire geological information is highly required. Processing capacity and its performance are key to improve system s efficiency.

26 Further Research A geological risk assessment that consider uncertainties about the real presence and distribution of water in regolith to design the mining system. (surface or underground) Develop a model to select the most suitable technology for particular conditions of different interest point (such as Aram Chaos) to increase water supply certainty. Inclusion of mechanical parameters in terms of availability, mean time between fail (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR) and life cycle of wear and spare parts. Earth and deep sea mining technology adaptation to Mars environment (design and performance).

27 Shuttle Simulator, NASA