The Generation of O2 and CO by CO2 Glow Discharge for In-Situ Martian Atmospheric Utilization

Abstract

Mars has nearly ideal conditions for CO₂ dissociation by glow discharge plasmas. The directly generation of O₂ and CO on Mars was considered to be feasible and practical for in situ resource utilization of Martian atmosphere to get respirable O₂ and fuel. In this paper, we conduct several experiments under simulated Martian conditions to investigate the process and how the key parameters effect the generation of O₂ and CO in CO₂ glow discharge reactions. The yields of new products (i.e., O₂ and CO) under various gas discharge work parameters (i.e., discharge power, frequency, voltage, gap between the discharge plane electrodes and gas pressure) were systematically investigated. The reaction mechanism and reaction path of CO₂ glow discharge has been discussed. In our study the max yield of O₂ by CO₂ discharge dissociation was got about 21.8 g/h at 168 W which is very close to that of NASA MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) at the same power. Our results showed the great potentiality of glow discharge for the practicable technology of O₂ and CO generation for in-situ resource utilization on Mars.