Cold plasma processing of local planetary ores for oxygen and metallurgically important metals

The utilization of a cold plasma in chlorination processing is described. Essential equipment and instruments were received, the experimental apparatus assembled and tested, and preliminary experiments conducted. The results of the latter lend support to the original hypothesis: a cold plasma can both significantly enhance and bias chemical reactions. In two separate experiments, a cold plasma was used to reduce TiCl4 vapor and chlorinate ilmenite. The latter, reacted in an argon-chlorine plasma, yielded oxygen. The former experiment reveals that chlorine can be recovered as HCl vapor from metal chlorides in a hydrogen plasma. Furthermore, the success of the hydrogen experiments has lead to an analysis of the feasibility of direct hydrogen reduction of metal oxides in a cold plasma. That process would produce water vapor and numerous metal by-products.