Water Infrastructure - Revision history

RichardWSmith: /* Waste water treatment */ Made paragraph flow better.

2024-09-20T17:18:47Z

Waste water treatment: Made paragraph flow better.

RichardWSmith: /* Waste water treatment */ Note that discarded waste water could be used for radiation shielding. Added links.

2024-09-20T17:05:59Z

Waste water treatment: Note that discarded waste water could be used for radiation shielding. Added links.

Michel Lamontagne: /* Melting */

2024-09-12T15:25:49Z

Melting

RichardWSmith: /* Melting */

2024-09-11T10:11:20Z

Melting

RichardWSmith: /* Melting */ changed words to make sentence less repetitive.

2024-09-11T10:11:02Z

Melting: changed words to make sentence less repetitive.

RichardWSmith: /* Melting */

2024-09-11T05:32:19Z

Melting

RichardWSmith: /* Melting */ Added information, and organized section.

2024-09-11T05:29:54Z

Melting: Added information, and organized section.

RichardWSmith: /* Melting */ Greenhouse & mirrors to extract water.

2024-09-11T05:21:46Z

Melting: Greenhouse & mirrors to extract water.

Michel Lamontagne: /* Water usage */

2024-05-01T15:00:34Z

Water usage

RichardWSmith: Added a sentence emphasizing the advantage of colonizing worlds with water.

2024-05-01T14:50:12Z

Added a sentence emphasizing the advantage of colonizing worlds with water.

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 Used water goes to the waste water treatment plant.  It is purified using different treatments and the minerals and contaminants removed are recycled.  The water is stored, or mixed with water from the settlement systems and returned to water treatment plant for reuse.
-However, depending on the cost of water treatment, it may be more cost effective to return more heavily contaminated water to the Martian environment, possible recuperating the contaminants as resources when the water evaporates in the low pressure Martian atmosphere.  Such water may be put into a plastic container and frozen, then stacked around or under the settlement to act as a [[Radiation]] shield.  (Water is very good at slowing down small particles such as [[Cosmic radiation]], and neutrons.)
+However, depending on the cost of water treatment, it may be more cost effective to return more heavily contaminated water to the Martian environment, possible recuperating the contaminants as resources when the water evaporates in the low pressure Martian atmosphere.  Or such water may be put into a plastic container and frozen, then stacked around or under the settlement to act as a [[Radiation]] shield.  (Water is very good at slowing down small particles such as [[Cosmic radiation]], and neutrons.)
 ==References==
 <references />

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 ==[[Waste water treatment]]==
-Used water goes to the waste water treatment plant.  It is purified using different treatments and the minerals and contaminants removed are recycled.  The water is stored, or mixed with water from the settlement systems and returned to water treatment plant for reuse.  However, depending on the cost of water treatment, it may be more cost effective to return more heavily contaminated water to the Martian environment, possible recuperating the contaminants as resources when the water evaporates in the low pressure Martian atmosphere.
+Used water goes to the waste water treatment plant.  It is purified using different treatments and the minerals and contaminants removed are recycled.  The water is stored, or mixed with water from the settlement systems and returned to water treatment plant for reuse.
 ==References==
 <references />

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Water will mostly be in a frozen state and will need to be heated to be melted.  This required about 336 kJ per kg for the phase change from ice to water.  Heating the water from Mars ambient temperature to the water treatment process temperature will also require about 4,18 kJ/kg x 70C = 292 kJ/kg for a total of 628 kJ/kg.  At an [[Cost of energy on Mars|energy cost]] of 230$/GJ, this corresponds to 0,14 $/kg.
-Unless waste heat is common & easily available, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed with inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
+Unless waste heat is common & easily available, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed with inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility similar to a greenhouse could warm a surface area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
 In the book, "The Case for Mars", Zubrin suggests an inexpensive way to produce water for a young exploration base.  A plastic dome is placed on some ground with permafrost below it forming a fairly tight seal (so rocks must be removed).  Outside mirrors reflect sunlight into this mini-greenhouse to warm the ground further.  Water sublimes from below, and condenses on a cooler at one edge of the greenhouse.  After the easily extracted water is removed from an area of ground, it is moved a couple meters and the process repeats.  Tho slow, this system uses solar heat to do most of the work, and the water is distilled which should remove chemical impurities.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Water will mostly be in a frozen state and will need to be heated to be melted.  This required about 336 kJ per kg for the phase change from ice to water.  Heating the water from Mars ambient temperature to the water treatment process temperature will also require about 4,18 kJ/kg x 70C = 292 kJ/kg for a total of 628 kJ/kg.  At an [[Cost of energy on Mars|energy cost]] of 230$/GJ, this corresponds to 0,14 $/kg.
-Unless waste heat is common & easily available, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed from inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
+Unless waste heat is common & easily available, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed with inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
 In the book, "The Case for Mars", Zubrin suggests an inexpensive way to produce water for a young exploration base.  A plastic dome is placed on some ground with permafrost below it forming a fairly tight seal (so rocks must be removed).  Outside mirrors reflect sunlight into this mini-greenhouse to warm the ground further.  Water sublimes from below, and condenses on a cooler at one edge of the greenhouse.  After the easily extracted water is removed from an area of ground, it is moved a couple meters and the process repeats.  Tho slow, this system uses solar heat to do most of the work, and the water is distilled which should remove chemical impurities.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Water will mostly be in a frozen state and will need to be heated to be melted.  This required about 336 kJ per kg for the phase change from ice to water.  Heating the water from Mars ambient temperature to the water treatment process temperature will also require about 4,18 kJ/kg x 70C = 292 kJ/kg for a total of 628 kJ/kg.  At an [[Cost of energy on Mars|energy cost]] of 230$/GJ, this corresponds to 0,14 $/kg.
-Unless waste heat is common & inexpensive, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed from inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
+Unless waste heat is common & easily available, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be warmed from inexpensive heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature, when it is further processed.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
 In the book, "The Case for Mars", Zubrin suggests an inexpensive way to produce water for a young exploration base.  A plastic dome is placed on some ground with permafrost below it forming a fairly tight seal (so rocks must be removed).  Outside mirrors reflect sunlight into this mini-greenhouse to warm the ground further.  Water sublimes from below, and condenses on a cooler at one edge of the greenhouse.  After the easily extracted water is removed from an area of ground, it is moved a couple meters and the process repeats.  Tho slow, this system uses solar heat to do most of the work, and the water is distilled which should remove chemical impurities.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ===Melting===
-Water will mostly be in a frozen state and will need to be heated to be melted.  This required about 336 kJ per kg for the phase change from ice to water.  Heating the water from Mars ambient temperature to the water treatment process temperature will also require about 4,18 kJ/kg x 70C = 292 kJ/kg for a total of 628 kJ/kg.  At an [[Cost of energy on Mars|energy cost]] of 230$/GJ, this corresponds to 0,14 $/kg.  Unless waste heat is common & inexpensive, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be melted using either waste heat from underground greenhouses or in low pressure surface environments with transparent coverings warmed by sunlight (perhaps concentrated sunlight with mirrors).  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of help here.)
+Water will mostly be in a frozen state and will need to be heated to be melted.  This required about 336 kJ per kg for the phase change from ice to water.  Heating the water from Mars ambient temperature to the water treatment process temperature will also require about 4,18 kJ/kg x 70C = 292 kJ/kg for a total of 628 kJ/kg.  At an [[Cost of energy on Mars|energy cost]] of 230$/GJ, this corresponds to 0,14 $/kg.
-In the book, "The Case for Mars", Zubrin suggests an inexpensive way to produce water for a young exploration base.  A plastic dome is placed on some ground with permafrost below it.  Mirrors reflect sunlight into this mini-greenhouse to warm the ground further.  Water sublimes from below, and condenses on a cooler at one edge of the greenhouse.  After the easily extracted water is removed from an area of ground, it is moved a couple meters and the process repeats.  Tho slow, this system uses solar heat to do most of the work.
+Unless waste heat is common & inexpensive, (say from a nuclear reactor), it is likely that ice will be melted using waste heat.  This heat might be from underground greenhouses.  The habitat itself is much warmer than the ambient temperature, and waste heat from the habitat itself could warm ice.  Or a facility like a greenhouse for ice could warm an area, bringing ultra cold ice to just below freezing temperature.  ([[Smart Windows]] would be of great help here.)
 ===Crushing and milling===

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 ==Water usage==
 *Water is used for life support and in agriculture and food production in general.
-*Water is often used in cooling systems.  It can be reused after light treatment depending on contamination from the processes, or used in closed loops.
+*Water is often used as a medium in cooling and heating systems.  It can be reused after light treatment depending on contamination from the processes, or used in closed loops.
 *Water is a source of hydrogen for a multitude of processes.
 *Water is used for cleaning and dust control.  Water may be used to clean equipment and remove perchlorates.

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 *Water may be used for recreation (e.g. swimming).
 *Water is a very useful form of radiation protection.  The hydrogen atoms in its structure are very good at stopping small particle radiation.
 ==[[Waste water treatment]]==