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In the book, The Martian, I know that the oxygenator cools the air in the hab to separate out the gases. Then it somehow splits CO2 to get oxygen. What mechanism does it use to split the CO2?

Scott Whitlock
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  • related: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/104502/how-did-mark-watney-manufacture-oxygen-in-the-martian/104503#104503 – kaine Oct 06 '15 at 16:38
  • FWIW, NASA is planning on fielding one of these to Mars in 2020. http://gizmodo.com/nasa-will-make-oxygen-from-co2-on-the-surface-of-mars-1614018168 – FuzzyBoots Oct 06 '15 at 16:43

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From the page 231 of the book:

It heats CO2 to 900°C, then passes it over a zirconia electrolysis cell to yank the carbon atoms off.

Thanks Sean Duggan for pointing me to NASA's 2020 Mars mission tech, which includes MOXIE, an experiment in doing the same thing. It works via:

MOXIE uses a solid oxide electrolysis (SOXE) stack developed by Ceramatec, Inc. for converting CO2 to O2. Its working elements are stacked scandia stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) electrolyte supported cells with thin screen printed electrodes that are coated with a catalytic cath­ode on one side and an anode on the other.

  • The next question is whether that would actually work. But that's a question for another site. – Kevin Oct 06 '15 at 16:46
  • @Kevin Tada. The answer's yes. –  Oct 06 '15 at 17:23
  • with enough energy, you can rearrange molecules as you like. – Oldcat Oct 06 '15 at 17:32
  • What does it do with the carbon? – Xantec Oct 06 '15 at 17:47
  • @Xantec It's never mentioned in the book. Looking at the real-life NASA experiment, it is actually stripping off an Oxygen atom from CO2. Then it vents CO and O2. –  Oct 06 '15 at 18:03
  • @SJuan76 - I think CO can be used to make syngas. Keen, thanks for reminding me of Ceramatec, since now I remember reading about their products. It's all coming back now. :) – Scott Whitlock Oct 06 '15 at 20:49
  • @SJuan76 Considering vents allow you to vent the individual gasses wherever your vents lead, then yeah, I'd say it's pretty useful. – arkon Dec 24 '15 at 09:51
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    @user1027 - vents both CO and O2? Kinda makes you wonder if the totally interchangeable connectors on all the hoses are really as good an idea as Mark thinks ... – davidbak Feb 04 '16 at 02:29