The goal of the study was to assess whether a continuous end-to-end mission to mine Helium- 3 on the Moon and return it to Earth is a viable option for the future energy market. This abstract presents the results of a feasibility study conducted by students from Delft University of Technology. Despite the potential of lunar Helium- 3 mining, little research has been conducted on a full end-to-end mission. Throughout the space community lunar Helium- 3 is often cited as a major reason to return to the Moon. Helium- 3 is a rare isotope on Earth, but it is abundant on the Moon. Nuclear fusion using Helium- 3 may be a solution. With fossil fuels running out and global energy demand increasing, the need for alternative energy sources is apparent. Kleinschneider, Andreas Van Overstraeten, Dmitry Van der Reijnst, Roy Van Hoorn, Niels Lamers, Marvin Hubert, Laurent Dijk, Bert Blangé, Joey Hogeveen, Joel De Boer, Lennaert Noomen, Ron The frequency range investigated varies from 1 Hz to 30 Hz, with particular emphasis on higher frequencies.« less The results are used to find optimum operating conditions. The effects of operating pressure, warm-end temperature, and frequency on regenerators with helium-4 and helium- 3 are investigated and compared. With this model we show how the use of helium- 3 in place of helium-4 can improve the performance of 4 K regenerative cryocoolers. The thermodynamic and transportmore » properties of helium- 3 were incorporated into the latest NIST regenerator numerical model, known as REGEN 3.3, which was used to model regenerator performance with either helium-4 or helium- 3. An analytical model is used to find the fluid properties that strongly influence the regenerator losses as well as the gross refrigeration power. Helium- 3, with its lower boiling point, behaves somewhat closer to an ideal gas in this low temperature range and can reduce the losses in 4 K regenerators. As a result, losses in the regenerator, given by the time-averaged enthalpy flux, are increased and are strong functions of the operating pressure and temperature. The helium-4 working fluid in regenerative cryocoolers operating with the cold end near 4 K deviates considerably from an ideal gas. Radebaugh, Ray Huang Yonghua O'Gallagher, Agnes to make the colony self-sustaining.CALCULATED REGENERATOR PERFORMANCE AT 4 K WITH HELIUM-4 AND HELIUM- 3 The by-products of processing ore on the moon will provide enough necessary materials like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, etc. The shuttle load would have a value of about 25 billion dollars, which would equate to oil at $7 per barrel.īut to mine it on the moon and to get it here we will need a space station by 2000 AD and a permanent human resident colony on the moon by 2010 AD. 25 tonnes of helium-3 (one shuttle load) would supply the total US energy needs for a whole year in 1993. It is estimated that there is ten times as much helium-3 energy on the moon as our total historical inventory of fossil fuels. None lands on earth because it is diverted away by the earth’s magnetic field. It is generated from nuclear reactions in the sun and comes to us on solar wind. There is very little helium-3 on earth, only that which was left here when the earth was formed, and some additional amount which we have made in our reactors since then. It will probably take 10 to 20 years to work out the physics of containing the reaction. However the helium-3 reaction takes place at 10 times the temperature of the TOKAMAK. The fuel is non-radioactive, the process produces no radioactivity, and the residue produces no radioactivity. Two helium-3 atoms are fused in a thermonuclear reactor to produce normal helium and energy. In contrast, helium-3 is a completely clean source of energy. This is due to the very destructive neutrons generated in the reaction process. The physics of present fusion energy, involving the fusion of deuterium and tritium in a thermonuclear reactor, the TOKAMAK, is approaching resolution but problems of reactor materials survival remain, which will probably take 30 years to work out. We will have no alternative resource but fusion energy. We will have run out of places to store the toxic wastes from our nuclear fission reactors. By that time we will have exhausted all of the 7 trillion barrels of oil, equivalent to any kind of economically recoverable fossil fuel on earth. The world population will increase to ten billion people by the year 2050. Staff Rare Articles Helium-3 fusion energy: a national imperative by 2050 ADĪ presentation given to Congressman Bill Paxon
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