Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Chemical Engineering

Advisor 1

Timothy C. Eisele

Committee Member 1

Robert Handler

Committee Member 2

Paul van Susante

Abstract

Lunar regolith as a source of raw materials for a long-term human presence on the moon would need to be separated into single mineral fractions. To do this, triboelectric properties can be utilized to separate minerals without needing to add a working fluid, such as air and water, or expensive, consumable chemicals. A lightweight machine can be created to do this, one that also requires minimal electricity. A series of three prototypes for this machine were created and tested to determine if this concept would work, and what properties the machine would need. A mixture of magnetite and silica were used in the testing since those can be separated easily with a magnetic separator to calculate the grade and recovery of the products created. It was determined that while the concept works, the prototype needs more refinement before testing with lunar regolith would be beneficial.

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