fredinno Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 OK, I have an idea. After reading about the Sabitier Reaction (a very common reaction for ISRU and closed loop systems), I got the idea of extending it to make it more useful. First, we have the process of respiration. On the Moon, spaceships, spacestations, etc. this would be the primary source of CO2. On Mars and Venus, you can extract it from the atmosphere instead, thereby skipping this first step. Second, you need to add H2. If you got your O2 from H2O, you can just reinsert that gas back into the reaction. If not, you can get more from step 3's products, or get more from elsewhere. If you combine the H2 from the orginal electrolysis of waterto get your O2 for respiration, combining it with H2 from the products of step 3 will give you exactly 1 H2. CO2 + 2 H2 (added) -> 2 H2O + CH4. (Sabatier reaction) Third, The H2O can be recycled for reuse, possibly for step 6, which needs H2O. The other product, CH4 can be used for rocket fuel. If not (say if your tanks are full), it has another use... which is where step 3 comes in. With the incomplete prylosis of CH4 (complete prylosis is problematic due to making solid carbon, which has the tendancy to get stuck in places, and clog up) and by adding 1 more molecule of CH4 from step 2, we get this: 2CH4 -> C2H2 + 3H2. Fourth, the H2 is also recycled, as it's not important. The C2H2 can be stored or released- but let's store it. After all, mass=money. It might be worth it for construction and repairs, as a alternative for arc and friction welding, after combining it with O2 gas. Or it might be useful for an additional reaction. Once the C2H2 is released, step 5 can begin. Step 5 involves the synthesis of C2H4 via C2H2 and H2. This is the most unknown process, as I couldn't find anything on how this might be activated, but I'm going to assume heat and combustion. C2H2 + H2 = C2H4 Step 6 involves getting H2O (possibly from step 2's products), and then using a phosphoric acid catayst adsorbed in silica gel to acid-hydrate the C2H4 into C2H6O (a process used to produce ethanol industrially) to make ethanol. C2H2 + H2O= H6C2O. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylene#Niche_applications https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol#Ethylene_hydration https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction The greatest use of ethanol is to get drunk in space- dilute the ethanol product with water, and you basically have the simplest form of drinking alcohol (ethanol is the active product in alcohol). It probably tastes bad, but hey! It works... Producing drinking alcohol like this would likely be an illegal activity though, but it would be pretty impossible to control- ethanol has numerous other uses, such as as a solvent, and as a fuel for fuel cells for energy storage (even better since ethanol would not be prone to boil-off). None of the products or catalysts used here are rare at all, either. Anyone want Breaking Bad in space? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 4 hours ago, fredinno said: The greatest use of ethanol is to get drunk in space- dilute the ethanol product with water, and you basically have the simplest form of drinking alcohol (ethanol is the active product in alcohol). It probably tastes bad, but hey! It works... Producing drinking alcohol like this would likely be an illegal activity though, but it would be pretty impossible to control- ethanol has numerous other uses, such as as a solvent, and as a fuel for fuel cells for energy storage (even better since ethanol would not be prone to boil-off). None of the products or catalysts used here are rare at all, either. Anyone want Breaking Bad in space? If we put drinking alcohol in space, everyone in the SE US would go nuts for the space program to try it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Phil Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 All we need are some drunk space pilots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Alcohol and science have a long and sympathetic history. When the scientists at Los Alamos were working on The Bomb, they requisitioned 100% pure lab ethanol among their ordinary lab supplies in order to make spiked punch for their parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanic Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Approved by Roscosmos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanamonde Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 "Adult content" such as the use of intoxicants is off-limits for our friendly little space game forum (2.2.c). This thread will be closed now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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