Full system engineering design and operation of an oxygen plant

The production of oxygen from the indigenous resources on Mars is described. After discussing briefly the project's background and the experimental system design, specific experimental results of the electrolytic cell are presented. At the heart of the oxygen production system is a tubular solid zirconia electrolyte cell that will electrochemically separate oxygen from a high-temperature stream of Coleman grade carbon dioxide. Experimental results are discussed and certain system efficiencies are defined. The parameters varied include (1) the cell operating temperature; (2) the carbon dioxide flow rate; and (3) the voltage applied across the cell. The results confirm our theoretical expectations.