Electrostatic Precipitator in Martian Environment

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  • 火星環境における静電集塵機構

Abstract

Because the Martian atmosphere is composed of CO2 gas, electrochemical conversion of CO2 to O2 is one of the most efficient methods of extracting oxygen that is indispensable for astronauts to breathe and can be used as oxidant for rocket engines. To realize a reliable oxygen production system, a large amount of CO2 gas must be accumulated and compressed in an electrolytic conversion system. However, dust present in the Martian atmosphere because of dust storms could damage the oxygen conversion system or cause it to malfunction. Thus, a dust removal system is necessary before CO2 gas can be introduced into the system. To this end, we are developing an electrostatic precipitator suitable for use in the low-pressure Martian atmosphere because it has no mechanical drives and does not need any consumables such as a filter, complicated controls, and high power consumption. We constructed an improved precipitator consisting of a multi-wire and parallel-plate electrodes. The efficiency of dust removal was approximately 90% by adopting a multi-wire configuration without corona discharge in the low-pressure (700 Pa) CO2 atmosphere that simulated the Martian atmosphere. Dust was collected on the surface of the wire electrode, contrary to the case for a pressure of 105 Pa (1 atm). The deposited dust was easily cleaned by the application of vibration to the wires. An ionic pump was also developed to introduce gas into the precipitator.

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