Plasma-Assisted Nitrogen Fixation for Mars: A Simulation Study on in Situ Resource Utilization
Yuqing Luo
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Search for more papers by this authorJiacheng Li
Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co. Ltd., Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorYuran Yin
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dawei Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Correspondence: Dawei Liu ([email protected])
Search for more papers by this authorYuqing Luo
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Search for more papers by this authorJiacheng Li
Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co. Ltd., Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorYuran Yin
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dawei Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Correspondence: Dawei Liu ([email protected])
Search for more papers by this authorYuqing Luo and Jiacheng Li are contributed equally to this article.
ABSTRACT
This study explores nitrogen fixation in the Martian atmosphere using plasma technology. By combining microwave and dielectric barrier discharges (DBD), nitrogen was converted into water-soluble nitrogen fertilizer (N₂O₅) for agriculture. Despite the low pressure and temperature of Mars, optimized discharge conditions and reactor design significantly boosted the generation efficiency of N₂O₅ precursors, NO₂, and O₃ production. The microwave discharge achieved NOx concentrations of 63.6 ppm, close to experimental values; adjusting DBD pressure to 760 Torr enhanced O₃ concentration by 105 times, yielding 3.8 mol/m³ N₂O₅. The findings lay a technological foundation for future Martian ecosystem development and highlight the need for further experimental validation and system optimization.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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