Resource Recovery with Ionic Liquid for Exploration (RRILE)

Canceled TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)

Description

The RRILE “Resource Recovery with Ionic Liquids for Exploration” project is maturing a novel process that uses ionic liquids (ILs) to extract oxygen from lunar regolith simulant in a proof of concept, lab-scale demonstration that will increase the technology maturation to a Tecnnology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3.
The RRILE project will: Evaluate commercial and custom ILs based rate of oxygen generation, effectiveness of digestion of simulant, and regeneration of IL. Develop a closed-loop, integrated lab system. Perform 6-month stability testing that will evaluate the initial oxygen production rate, the stability of the IL, and oxygen production rate over time.

The Apollo program returned over 800lbs of lunar regolith in the form of rocks and soil between 1960 and 1972. The data gathered from the crewed Apollo missions and other geological studies- a combination of Earth-based telescope observations and measurements from orbiting spacecraft and geophysical data- have provided evidence of oxygen present in the lunar surface. Approximately 40% of the lunar surface contains the element oxygen. Much of the oxygen exists as oxide minerals and silicate minerals. ILs are capable of chemically dissolving lunar regolith at relatively low temperatures and unlocking key materials like metals, oxygen, and silicon from the lunar regolith.

Another key characteristic of ILs is that they can be chemically regenerated (recycled) and can continue to digest lunar regolith without resupply of the IL. In this way, ILs provide a long-term, low-mass solution for oxygen generation for a variety of missions.

Benefits

Ionic liquids are attractive for lunar sustainability because of their ability to be regenerated (recycled) after the oxygen generation process. In theory- once the system has been developed no additional mass is required to generate an unlimited amount of oxygen. Ionic liquids also have other qualities that make working with them appealing. Ionic liquids do not disperse into the environment and can be easily isolated and reused by heating and separating. They are excellent reaction solvents in terms of safety because of their low vapor pressure and are non-volatile and flameproof.

Details

Technology area	Exploration Destination Systems > In Situ Resource Use > Resource Processing for Production of Mission Consumables
Program	Game Changing Development (GCD)
Lead organization	Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
Start date	2019-10-01
End date	2021-09-30

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Mallory Johnston

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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