Mars Mission Research Applied to Life on Earth?
Refineries can use large quantities of water that need to be purified for the next process.
An interesting article from ScienceDaily reports that techniques being researched for an upcoming European mission to Mars could be directly applied to help address the energy crisis here on Earth. Basically, the process of separating organic material from space rock could be applied to purifying the large quantities of water required to refine unconventional fossil fuels. Unconventional fossil fuels are of interest in times like these, when conventional crude oil is in short supply. From the article:
Professor Mark Sephton from Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: “The research involves using extraction-helping materials, called surfactants, to liberate organic matter from rock in space to gain a deeper understanding into the biological environment on Mars. We aim to show that the same technique could also be used to recycle the prodigious amounts of water necessary to process tar sand deposits and turn them into conventional petroleum.”
Usable energy resources are essential to the global economy. Conventional crude oil is a staple energy resource and accounts for over 35% of the world’s energy consumption. As the demand for oil exceeds supply, focus has now turned to trying to tap unconventional fossil fuels, such as tar sands. However, these unconventional fossil fuels must be extracted and upgraded to match the characteristics of more conventional oil deposits and make them commercially viable. The extraction process requires substantial amounts of water which is then left contaminated for extended periods of time. In just hours, the new technology can strip this water of its oily contaminants, removing a bottleneck in the refining process.
By removing this “bottleneck” in the process, more oil can be extracted from these unconventional fossil fuels, which reduces reliance on crude oil in short supply.
It is interesting to see how research and development in one area can be directly applied in another. The article has a conclusion that also expresses interest in the versatility of this research:
Dr Liz Towns-Andrews, Director of Knowledge Exchange at STFC, which is funding the study through its Knowledge Exchange Follow on Fund award scheme, added, “This is a truly valuable study which will not only reveal more about our neighbour Mars, but could also deliver enormous benefits here on Earth. The new research is a direct solution to our worsening energy supply crisis and is a great example of the seamless interaction of pure and applied science with engineering to solve real world environmental and commercial issues. Professor Sephton’s work is well aligned with the current needs of industry and we believe that this ambitious project could be of great benefit to the UK economy.”
(Image from Wikipedia.)
Leave a Comment