Source Review: Lunarpedia — FFC Cambridge Process

Summary

Claim 1 — Process chemistry

Quote: "The FFC Cambridge Process reduces oxides to their metal components by electrolysis in a bath of molten calcium chloride."

Verdict: Consistent (q3.c6)

Why: Standard chemistry; supports the metal-and-oxygen production claim.

Claim 2 — Metals produced

Quote: "The process can produce titanium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and chromium from lunar minerals like anorthite, ilmenite, and chromite."

Verdict: Consistent (q3.c6, q3.c9)

Why: Supports FFC as cleanest direct route to individual structural metals (Al, Ti) — my calc's q3.c6 framing.

Claim 3 — Per-tonne yields

Quote: "Anorthite: 460 kg oxygen, 193 kg aluminum, 201 kg silicon, 144 kg calcium. Ilmenite: 316 kg oxygen, 316 kg titanium, 368 kg iron."

Verdict: Novel supporting (q3.c11)

Why: These are specific stoichiometric numbers I did not derive in my calc. They're consistent with my regolith O mass fraction (q3.c1) and serve as a reality-check.

Note: yields apply to processed anorthite and ilmenite, not bulk highland or mare regolith. Bulk regolith → beneficiation step → FFC input. This was clarified in q3.c11 post-Codex audit.

Claim 4 — Chlorine as Earth-import bottleneck

Quote: "The only substance used which is not readily available on the Lunar surface is chlorine."

Verdict: Consistent (q3.c6)

Why: Direct support for the FFC-Cl-dependency framing. Names the structural limitation that distinguishes FFC from MRE for lunar economics.

Claim 5 — Salt recycling necessity

Quote: "Calcium chloride must be recycled through salt recovery methods (grinding/washing, reverse osmosis, distillation, melting, or vacuum heating)."

Verdict: Novel supporting

Why: Lists the specific salt-recycling pathways. This is the research direction that would close the lunar-FFC economic gap. Could spawn a tree node: "Is lunar-economic CaCl2 salt recycling solvable, and at what TRL?"

Claim 6 — Earth TRL (Metalysis)

Quote: "Metalysis have successfully scaled-up the FFC-Cambridge technology from research and development (R&D) scale Generation 1 cells, with a further three generations designed, commissioned, and in operation."

Verdict: Merits investigation

Why: Metalysis Gen 4 cells running for terrestrial Ti production implies TRL 7+ on Earth. The lunar-config TRL is much lower because of the chlorine question, but the underlying electrochemistry is mature. Tree node candidate: "What's the minimum chlorine inventory required for steady-state lunar FFC?"

FFC Cambridge Process (Lunarpedia)

chemistry

"The FFC Cambridge Process reduces oxides to their metal components by electrolysis in a bath of molten calcium chloride."

Mechanism: oxygen stripped from cathode → forms CaO in bath → oxygen released at anode; cathode becomes a porous metallic sponge.

metals-produced

"The process can produce titanium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and chromium from lunar minerals like anorthite, ilmenite, and chromite."

yields-per-tonne

• Anorthite (highland feedstock): 460 kg O2, 193 kg Al, 201 kg Si, 144 kg Ca per tonne fed
• Ilmenite (mare feedstock): 316 kg O2, 316 kg Ti, 368 kg Fe per tonne fed

trl

• Earth: Metalysis developing for terrestrial titanium production (Generations 1-4 of cells in operation; pre-commercial for Ti)
• Lunar: "Experiments have already been done using pellets of sintered lunar regolith simulant…producing metalized pellets and oxygen." TRL not explicitly stated for lunar configuration; consistent with TRL 3-4 laboratory demonstration.

earth-import

"The only substance used which is not readily available on the Lunar surface is chlorine."

Chlorine exists only in trace quantities within apatite on the Moon. Calcium chloride must be recycled aggressively through "salt recovery methods (grinding/washing, reverse osmosis, distillation, melting, or vacuum heating)" to avoid bulk chlorine import. This is a structural difference between FFC Cambridge and MRE — MRE is a true molten-oxide process (no halide electrolyte required), while FFC requires a halide salt bath.

energy

No specific kWh/kg figures cited on Lunarpedia.