Airborne Wind Energy for Martian Habitats

Title

Airborne Wind Energy for Martian Habitats

 Author

Schmehl, R. (TU Delft Wind Energy) ORCID 0000-0002-4112-841X
Rodriguez, Mario (Student TU Delft; Technical University of Denmark)
Ouroumova, Lora (Student TU Delft)
Gaunaa, Mac (Technical University of Denmark)

Contributor

Cervone, Angelo (editor)
Bier, Henriette (editor)
Makaya, Advenit (editor)

Date

2024

 Abstract

Renewable energy for Mars habitats is of key interest for future crewed missions. However, the low solar irradiation and low atmospheric pressure on Mars pose serious challenges to exploiting these resources reliably. In this chapter, we investigate the technical feasibility of a soft-kite-based airborne wind energy system and its potential to power a subsurface Mars habitat in combination with photovoltaics and short-term electrical storage. We propose a soft kite for its high surface-to-mass ratio, compact packing volume, adaptability to the available wind resource, and, thus, high capacity factor. First, the siting of the habitat is outlined, and the wind resources are quantified in terms of the wind speed probability distribution at the operational height of the system for different seasonal periods. Then, a performance model for the pumping cycle operation is developed to compute the power curve of the airborne wind energy system. Combining this with the wind statistics, a process for predicting the electricity yield at the habitat location is developed, which is then used to size all components of the hybrid power system to meet the continuous electrical power demand of 10 kW of the envisioned habitat.

 To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:48e12069-4580-4198-b12a-dae3d3d93dae

 DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50081-7_7

 Publisher

Springer, Cham

 Embargo date

2024-10-11

 ISBN

978-3-031-50080-0

 Source

Adaptive On- and Off-Earth Environments

 Series

Springer Series in Adaptive Environments, 2522-5529

 Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

 Part of collection

Institutional Repository

 Document type

book chapter

 Rights

© 2024 R. Schmehl, Mario Rodriguez, Lora Ouroumova, Mac Gaunaa
Files
file embargo until 2024-10-11