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Most of the people knows a lot about helium gas H2 and it's various uses it is the second most abundant element available in the universe and it's extraction in not much typical. A new source of power is being used these days which is nothing but an isotope ( meaning - one of the two or more atom with same atomic number but different number of protons) of Helium which contains 2 protons and only 1 Neutron and known as the Helium-3 or He-3 on the other hand Helium contains 2 protons and two neutrons. It is very rare on earth as it sources are limited to underground places which are very rare, solar flairs and the radioactive (beta) decay of tritium H-3.
It is mainly used in second generation nuclear fusion plants which are still under developing procedure for providing us energy
21H + 32He (D-3He) → 42He + 11p 18.354 MeV
The proton generated in this reaction which contain energy equivalent to 18.354 mega electron volt can directly be used for generating electricity by rotating turbine which is 70% efficient and there is very less radioactive waste produced which on contrast is very high while using uranium, plutonium or any other radioactive material. Helium-3 is also used in Neutron detection and Cryogenic as its melting point is relatively very low less than 10 kelvin. It becomes important for humans to get large amount of H-3 as a clean nuclear fuel.
As stated above Helium-3 is present in solar flairs(wind) but the earth atmosphere reflects most of the sun's charged particle but Moon has no atmosphere so moon's soil has absorbed some amount of Helium-3, so it will be beneficial of we extract it from the moon's surface.
It is mainly used in second generation nuclear fusion plants which are still under developing procedure for providing us energy
21H + 32He (D-3He) → 42He + 11p 18.354 MeV
The proton generated in this reaction which contain energy equivalent to 18.354 mega electron volt can directly be used for generating electricity by rotating turbine which is 70% efficient and there is very less radioactive waste produced which on contrast is very high while using uranium, plutonium or any other radioactive material. Helium-3 is also used in Neutron detection and Cryogenic as its melting point is relatively very low less than 10 kelvin. It becomes important for humans to get large amount of H-3 as a clean nuclear fuel.
As stated above Helium-3 is present in solar flairs(wind) but the earth atmosphere reflects most of the sun's charged particle but Moon has no atmosphere so moon's soil has absorbed some amount of Helium-3, so it will be beneficial of we extract it from the moon's surface.
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| Model for bringing H-3 from moon |
China is one step closer to this it has it's Chang's 5 mission will bring the first samples if Helium-3 from moon which is scheduled to launch in early 2020s and Professor Ouyang Ziyuan, the chief scientist of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, recently said, the moon is 'so rich' in helium 3, that this could 'solve humanity's energy demand for around 10,000 years at least.' It has been calculated that there are about 1,100,000 metric tons of helium-3 on the lunar surface down to a depth of a few meters.
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