Sintering End Effector for Regolith

Outward Technologies proposes to continue development of a Sintering End Effector for Regolith (SEER) in Phase II. The SEER system enables efficient transmission (82.2%) of Concentrated Solar Energy (CSE) for a wide range of high temperature processes including additive manufacturing, additive construction, and oxygen production on the Moon. SEER enables heating lunar regolith to maintain a focal point temperature between 1,000-1,100C and sintering at translation speeds of between 1-10 mm/s. SEER may be interfaced with a primary solar concentrator through a fiber optic waveguide, or through a free space optical design for dramatically improved transmission efficiencies and reduced launch mass. The SEER design is scalable, efficient, durable, lightweight, and an ideal choice for regolith sintering and ISRU on the Moon. SEER enables continuous operation for high temperature thermochemical processes without causing damage to sensitive optics. The design is resistant to fouling from regolith dust, spallation, sputtering, and gases produced with high processing temperatures. The objectives of the proposed Phase II project are to advance the SEER TRL from 4 to 5 by documenting test performance in a simulated operational environment, establishing predicted performance for subsequent SEER development phases, and defining scaling requirements for SEERs use in additive construction and manufacturing on the Moon with the ultimate goal of being scalable to 11.1 kW of delivered solar energy. Self-cleaning operations will be explored and predicted maintenance schedules will be established in Phase II. These proposed Phase II efforts mark a significant addition to NASAs capabilities for lunar ISRU, hydrogen and carbothermal reduction, and the sintering of regolith to produce parts and structures on the Moon with regolith as the only feedstock. The innovative design of SEER leads to efficient (82.2% transmission efficiency in Phase I) and continuous high temperature processing of lunar regolith using Concentrated Solar Energy (CSE), thereby enabling several key capabilities of high interest to NASA for establishing infrastructure and a permanent human presence on the Moon. Of particular interest in Phase II is additive manufacturing and construction using CSE as a power source and lunar regolith as the only feedstock to produce parts and structures. The SEER technology can be interfaced with a primary solar concentrator through free space optical design to enable lightweight and easily deployable solar collectors. Alternatively, SEER may be interfaced with primary solar concentrators via fiber optic bundle to enable CSE to be applied to regolith from any orientation. SEER may be mounted onto a robotic arm and/or rover to provide CSE wherever it may be needed on the lunar surface. The SEER design is scalable, efficient, durable, lightweight, and an ideal choice for implementing CSE to heat and sinter regolith on the Moon. SEER will be further refined, tested, and developed in Phase II for use with an additive fabrication process suitable for regolith sintering that is scalable to 11.1 kW of delivered solar energy and translation speeds of 1-10 mm/s. Phase II Objectives: 1. Build, test, and characterize primary concentrator suited for SEER 2. Build, test, and characterize vacuum chamber for SEER testing in relevant environment 3. Refine SEER to enable autonomous cleaning and occasional replacement of components 4. Evaluate additive fabrication methods suited for scaling up SEER 5. Demonstrate SEER 3D printing in a relevant environment 6. Characterize SEER optical, thermal, and printing capabilities in vacuum to predict performance of lunar-equivalent system 7. Optimize solar-to-thermal efficiency to minimize required size of the primary solar concentrator 8. Explore fault-resistant subsystems to minimizes maintenance requirements and ensures longterm operation >1 year 9. Quantify maintenance schedules for SEER in large-scale lunar system 10. Define system and subsytem performance requirements for lunar deployment SEER is expected to reach TRL 5 in Phase II by building a medium fidelity SEER prototype, operating the prototype to demonstrate basic functionality in critical test environments, and defining performance predictions relative to the final operating environment of the lunar surface.

SEER’s primary NASA application is the fabrication of 3D printed components using solar power and regolith as the only feedstock. SEER addresses 2020 taxonomy areas TX07.1.4 Resource Processing for Production of Manufacturing, Construction, and Energy Storage Feedstock Materials by utilizing sintered regolith as a fabrication material; and TX07.1.3 Resource Processing for Production of Mission Consumables for heating regolith with high thermodynamic efficiencies to produce oxygen through carbothermal reduction and related processes. SEER is used to provide controlled, high temperatures for powering thermochemical processes with concentrated solar energy. SEER may be used to replace fossil fuels in high temperature thermochemical processes for industrial decarbonization at locations on Earth with abundant sunlight.

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