Abstract We have used a three-dimensional thermal and gas diffusion model to study the heated extraction of water ice from lunar regolith. Both surface heating and the insertion of heated drills were investigated for various heating power levels and expected soil ice fractions. Our calculations rely on the use of the Crank-Nicolson finite difference method for the diffusion equations. We find that the extraction of water vapor from lunar regolith requires high levels of heating power in the investigated configurations. Any heating below about 1000 W per m2 or per heated drill produces negligible amounts of vapor. We also find that extraction efficiencies are highly dependent on the heating configuration, as well as the initial ice fraction present in the regolith. In addition, we find that, depending on the heating configuration, significant amounts of water escape the heated volume and are lost through refreeze in colder regions. We conclude that water extraction through heating will be a power-hungry process if not optimized through additional controls (e.g. volume confinement by heated walls). In addition, the choice of a heating configuration for optimal extraction efficiency depends on the ice content of the soil. Therefore, detailed prospecting will be essential to the design of future ISRU activities on the Moon.

中文翻译：

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从月球表面热提取水冰 - 一个 3D 数值模型

摘要 我们使用三维热和气体扩散模型研究了从月球风化层中加热提取水冰的过程。针对不同的加热功率水平和预期的土壤冰部分，研究了表面加热和加热钻头的插入。我们的计算依赖于对扩散方程使用 Crank-Nicolson 有限差分方法。我们发现，在所研究的配置中，从月球风化层中提取水蒸气需要高水平的加热功率。任何低于每平方米约 1000 W 或每个加热钻头的加热产生的蒸汽量都可以忽略不计。我们还发现提取效率高度依赖于加热配置以及风化层中存在的初始冰部分。此外，我们发现，根据加热配置，大量的水从加热的体积中逸出，并通过在较冷的地区重新冻结而流失。我们的结论是，如果不通过额外的控制（例如加热墙的体积限制）进行优化，通过加热提取水将是一个耗电的过程。此外，为获得最佳提取效率而选择的加热配置取决于土壤的冰含量。因此，详细的勘探对于未来 ISRU 月球活动的设计至关重要。为获得最佳提取效率而选择的加热配置取决于土壤的冰含量。因此，详细的勘探对于未来 ISRU 月球活动的设计至关重要。为获得最佳提取效率而选择的加热配置取决于土壤的冰含量。因此，详细的勘探对于未来 ISRU 月球活动的设计至关重要。