Space Debris Removal and Exploitation of Lunar Resources - Profitability Perspectives

Author(s):  
Mayboroda Alexander O. ◽  

Removing at least half of space debris, consisting of large metal objects, could be a cost-effective activity if, first, it becomes raw material, along with other extraterrestrial resources such as regolith, for the production of heat shields which is aimed to return the upper stages of medium and heavy rockets and, secondly, as a working medium for low-thrust electric rocket engines of interorbital tugs. Heat shields from external resources provide a means of increasing the payload of reusable launch vehicles.

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 114-119
Author(s):  
A. A. Baldin

One of the topical problems in modern aerospace engineering is accordance between ecological requirements and performance of the vehicle. On the other hand, problem of economical efficiency leads to change of the main criterion of designing to the minimization of costs (instead of maximal performance). According to modern trends of “low-cost” vehicles, different concepts of the future cost-effective launch vehicles are considered. It is necessary to validate these concepts according to requirements of ecological safety for the purpose of detection of the dominant launch vehicle configuration. Typical configurations of the future 'low-cost' launch vehicle are presented by 6 conceptual groups (Koelle, 2001). Conceptual group 1 (CG1) is presented by the Ballistic “Single stage to orbit” (SSTO) reusable vehicle. All vehicles which use classical rocketry scheme of the propulsion trajectory are called “Ballistic” i.e. the ballistic vehicle is lifted to orbit under the impact of rocket engines thrust. CG1-vehicle is able to reach the low earth orbit (LEO) without stage separation reducing the number of required rocket engines. Technological feasibility of SSTO concepts is proven by numerous studies (Koelle, 2001). CG2 representatives are ballistic “Two stages to orbit” (TSTO) reusable vehicles. The difference between CG1 and CG2 consists in application of vacuum rocket engines in the second stage  and, consequently, stage separation. CG2 are the most mass-effective vehicles. CG3 is presented by the winged SSTO vehicles with rocket propulsion by “Lifting body” aerodynamic scheme. Ascensional force is provided by the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle’s structure at high speeds. Winged TSTO vehicles with rocket propulsion and parallel or tandem staging form the CG4. The winged configuration provides wide landing capability for both stages. CG5 is presented by winged TSTO vehicles with airbreathing propulsion in the first stage and rocket-propelled second stage. Airbreathing jet engines provide high reusability ratio comparing with other concepts as well as the widest landing capability. Aerospace Plane with scramjet-rocket propulsion forms CG6. The vehicle is able to reach near-cosmic speed in rarefied layers of the atmosphere and then accelerate with rocket engines. The most ecologically important resemblance of represented concepts is reusability. This reduces space debris formation (due to lack of waste hardware). Reusable launch vehicles can also be used to return the spent satellites. Structural differences between the concepts form 3 criterions of comparison by ecological impact: 1) propellant toxicity; 2) safety of surface facilities (vehicle damage inside the atmosphere); 3) probability of space debris formation (vehicle damage outside the atmosphere). Comparison of the concepts by these criterions allows substantiating the most ecologically acceptable direction of research. Results of the comparison demonstrate that the most ecologically acceptable low-cost launch vehicle configuration is: Ballistic SSTO or TSTO reusable launch vehicle with “LOX+LH2” propellant. The results can be explained by following way: combustion products of the propellant “liquid oxygen + liquid hydrogen” are absolutely safe for environment. It also provides maximal performance of rocket engine (due to the highest specific impulse). Ballistic ascent scheme allows using relatively simple technologies and provides high reliability level. In combination with minimal time of atmospheric flight this provides high level of safety for surface facilities. These results may be used for substantiation of dominant research direction.


New Space ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Richardson ◽  
Dominic W.F. Hardy

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-95
Author(s):  
Agus Sudibyo ◽  
Sardjono Sardjono

Crude palm oil (CPO)is the richest natural plant source of carotenoids in terms of retinol (pro-vitamin A) equivalent, whereas palm oil mill effluent (POME) is generated from palm oil industry that contains oil and carotenes that used to be treated before discharge. Carotenoids are importance in animals and humans for the purpose of the enhancement of immune response, conversion of vitamin A and scavenging of oxygen radicals. This component has different nutritional  functions and benefits to humaan health. The growing interest in the other natural sources of beta-carotene and growing awareness to prevent pollution has stimulated the industrial use of CPO and POME as a raw material for carotenoids extraction. Various technologies of extraction and separation have been developed in order to recover of carotenoids.This article reports on various technologies that have been developed in order to recover of carotenoids from being destroyed in commercial refining of palm oil and effects of some various treatments on the extraction end separation for carotenoid from palm oil and carotenoids concentration. Principally, there are different technologies, and there is one some future which is the use of solvent. Solvent plays important role  in the most technologiest, however the problem of solvents which are used is that they posses potentiaal fire health and environmental hazards. Hence selection of the  most safe, environmentally friendly and cost effective solvent is important to design of alternative extraction methods.Chemical molecular product design is one of the methods that are becoming more popular nowadays for finding solvent with the desired properties prior to experimental testing.ABSTRAKMinyak sawit kasar merupakan sumber karotenoid terkaya yang berasal dari tanaman sawit sebagai senyawa yang sama dengan retinol atau pro-vitamin A; sedangkan limbah pengolahan minyak sawit dihasilkan dari industri pengolahan minyak sawit yang berisi minyak dan karotene yang perlu diberi perlakuan terlebih dahulu sebelum dibuang. Karotenoid merupakan bahan penting yang diperlukan pada hewan dan manusia guna memperkuat tanggapan terhadap kekebalan, konversi ke vitamin A dan penangkapan gugus oksigen radikal. Dengan berkembangnya ketertarikan dalam mencari beta-karotene yang bersumber dari alam lain dan meningkatnya kesadaran untuk mencegah adanya pencemaran lingkungan, maka mendorong suatu industri untuk menggunakan CPO dan POME sebagai bahan baku untuk diekstrak karotenoidnya. Berbagai macam teknologi guna mengekstrak dan memisahkan karotenoid telah dikembangkan untuk mendapatkan kembali karotenoidnya. Makalah ini melaporkan dan membahas berbagai jenis teknologi yang telah dikembangkan guna mendapatkan kembali senyawa karotenoid dari kerusakan di dalam proses pemurnian minyak sawit secara komersial dan pengaruh beberapa perlakuan terhadap ekstrasi dan pemisahan karotenoid dari minyak sawit dan konsentrasi karotenoidnya. Pada prinsipnya, berbagai teknologi yang digunakan untuk mengekstrak dan memisahkan karotenoid terdapat perbedaan, dan terdapat salah satu teknologi yang digunakan untuk esktrasi dan pemisahan karotenoid adalah menggunakan bahan pelarut. Pelarut yang digunakan mempunyai peranan yang penting dalam teknologi ekstrasi; namun pelarut yang digunakan untuk mengekstrak tersebut mempunyai persoalan karena berpotensi mengganggu kesehatan dan membahayakan cemaran lingkungan. Oleh karena itu, pemilihan jenis teknologi yang aman, ramah terhadap lingkungan dan biaya yang efektif untuk penggunaan pelarut merupakan hal penting sebelum dilakukan desain metode/teknologi alternatif untuk esktrasi karotenoid. Pola produk molekuler kimia merupakan salah satu metode yang saat ini menjadi lebih populer untuk mencari pelarut dengan sifat-sifat yang dikehendaki sebelum diujicobakan. Kata kunci :    karotenoid, ekstrasi, pemisahan, teknologi, minyak sawit kasar, limbah industri pengolahan sawit.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Schierman ◽  
D. G. Ward ◽  
J. F. Monaco ◽  
J. R. Hull

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 096369351802700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Önal ◽  
Gökdeniz Neşer

Glass reinforced polyester (GRP), as a thermoset polymer composites, dominates boat building industry with its several advantages such as high strength/weight ratio, cohesiveness, good resistance to environment. However, proper recovering and recycling of GRP boats is became a current environmental requirement that should be met by the related industry. In this study, to propose in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been carried out for six scenarios include two moulding methods (namely Hand Lay-up Method, HLM and Vacuum Infusion Method, VIM) and three End-of-Life (EoL) alternatives(namely Extruding, Incineration and Landfill) for a recreational boat's GRP hulls. A case study from raw materials purchasing phase to disposal/recycling stages has been established taking 11 m length GRP boat hull as the functional unit. Analysis show that in the production phase, the impacts are mainly due to the use of energy (electricity), transport and raw material manufacture. Largest differences between the methods considered (HLM and VIM) can be observed in the factors of marine aquatic ecotoxicity and eutrophication while the closest ones are abiotic depletion, ozon layer depletion and photochemical oxidation. The environmental impact of VIM is much higher than HLM due to its higher energy consumption while vacuum infusion method has lower risk than hand lay-up method in terms of occupational health by using less raw material (resin) in a closed mold. In the comparison of the three EoL techniques, the mechanical way of recycling (granule extruding) shows better environmental impacts except terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation and acidification. Among the EoL alternatives, landfill has the highest environmental impacts except ‘global warming potential’ and ‘human toxicity’ which are the highest in extrusion. The main cause of the impacts of landfill is the transportation needs between the EoL boats and the licenced landfill site. Although it has the higher impact on human toxicity, incineration is the second cleaner alternative of EoL techniques considered in this study. In fact that the similar trend has been observed both in production and EoL phases of the boat. It is obvious that using much more renewable energy mix and greener transportation alternative can reduce the overall impact of the all phases considerably.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lokesh Kumar ◽  
Susanta Kumar Jana

Abstract Sulfur dioxide is considered as an extremely harmful and toxic substance among the air pollutants emitted from the lignite- and other high-sulfur-coal based power plants, old tires processing units, smelters, and many other process industries. Various types of absorbents and desulfurization technologies have been developed and adopted by the industries to reduce the emission rate of SO2 gas. The present paper focuses on the ongoing advances in the development of varieties of regenerative and non-regenerative absorbents viz., Ca-based, Mg-based, Fe-based, Na-based, N2-based, and others along with various FGD technology, viz., wet, dry or semi-dry processes. Additionally, different types of contactors viz., packed column, jet column, spray tower, and slurry bubble columns along with their significant operational and design features have also been discussed. In the existing or newly installed limestone-based FGD plants, an increasing trend of the utilization of newly developed technologies such as limestone forced oxidation (LSFO) and magnesium-enhanced lime (MEL) are being used at an increasing rate. However, the development of low-cost sorbents, particularly suitable solid wastes, for the abatement of SO2 emission needs to be explored sincerely. Many such wastes cause air pollution by way of entrainment of fine particulate matter (PM), groundwater contamination by its leaching, or brings damage to crops due to its spreading onto the cultivation land. One such pollutant is marble waste and in this work, this has been suggested as a suitable substitute to limestone and cost-effective sorbent for the desulfurization of flue gases. The product of this process being sellable in the market or may be used as a raw material in several industries, it can also prove to be an important route of recycling and reuse of one of the air and water-polluting solid wastes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document