AQUALUNAR CHALLENGE SEMI-FINALIST UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

University of Calgary prof and industry leaders collaborate on strategy to transform lunar ice into pure water

“Basically, the challenge was, there’s a vial of this frozen water. It’s clean, but you have some frozen gases in there. The Challenge is one litre of pure water per hour.”-- Dr. Elmar Prenner, Professor of Biochemistry University of Calgary

Interview with Dr. Elmar Prenner

By Suzanne Forcese

WT: Congratulations on being selected as 1 of the 8 semi-finalists in the Aqualunar Challenge! Please introduce yourself and the Team members including the area of your research/expertise.

Prenner: The team consists of four members, 1 academic, 2 consultants and 1 company.

I, (Dr. Elmar Prenner) am a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary. In addition to basic research on biomembranes the lab has a long-standing interest in applied research and start-up companies, supported by the entrepreneurial spirit of the University of Calgary.

Murray Paulson has a BSc in Physics and worked on an MSc in Lasers. He is a P Eng. (Starlight Technical Services). He is highly experienced in instrument design, optics and electronics, and this expertise has supported many academic and commercial partners. He was one of the key engineers in provincial initiative ACAMP and has a keen interest in Space.

Dr. Kirat Singh has a PhD in Physics, with a focus on Optics and is an experienced consultant (APNI Technology Corp). He has been involved in the development of optical components like novel filter designs to cameras and image analysis to devices for onsite detection. Dr. Singh holds 14 patents; two of them were joint patents with me (Dr. Prenner).

John Murphy is a serial entrepreneur in Alberta and is currently the CEO of Bio-Stream diagnostics Inc. John is very active in the angel investor and Venture scene in Alberta and has supported and promoted the development of companies in the IT and life sciences space in Alberta.

WT: What has this distinction of being named a semi-finalist in the Aqualunar Challenge meant for you?

Prenner: It was exciting to get the news that our proposal was selected. We have the advantage of working with a very experienced team in terms of technological development and combining this with the resources of a research-intensive university.

WT: What was there about the Challenge that spoke to you? And what inspired you to enter the Challenge?

Prenner: It was the challenge of doing something totally different and in a unique and challenging setting. Murray has a long-standing interest in Space, which added more know-how to the efforts.

WT: Pure Water from Lunar Ice -- is your project.  Please explain that for our viewers.

Prenner: Lunar water is found in the mix of the regolith, the loose and very abrasive sand/rock mixture found on the lunar surface with ice mixed methanol and frozen gasses like methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and more. Lunar water was found in craters near the lunar poles.

The next steps of Space discovery include plans for a permanent base on the moon and thus proper water supply is a key element to make this feasible.

WT: Please describe the process of converting lunar ice into water.

Prenner: The various frozen volatiles in the sample must be separated from the regolith and then water needs to be separated from the hazardous compounds to ensure a safe supply of water. We will qualify its purity.

WT: At this stage of the Challenge please tell us as much as you are comfortable to reveal about the technology.

Prenner: In this stage of ongoing completion, we can say that it is a combination of controlled evaporation and staged separation and condensation and the means to assess water purity.

WT: From the lab to the moon -- what are the challenges that must be met for your final concept to be viable on lunar surfaces?

Prenner: A lot of scientific information is available for conditions on earth, but the moon is quite different in terms of extreme temperature variations, low gravity and a strong vacuum, which all need to be considered in the design stage. While experiments for selected questions can be designed, the actual setting is way more challenging.

WT: How do you envision your project contributing to advancements in water purification on Earth?

Prenner: Although this Challenge is Space-focused, the technology developed for converting lunar ice into water also has potential for use in remote and low-tech environments on Earth. For instance, the staged separation processes could be adapted for water purification in isolated communities lacking access to clean water. These methods can offer cost-effective and autonomous solutions where traditional water purification systems are impractical or unavailable.

WT: Any observations about the challenge and its objective?

Prenner: Impact Canada launched this initiative in collaboration with similar efforts in the United Kingdom. The response from both industry and academia demonstrates that the goal of the Challenge has excited a level of interest that is contributing to the human efforts of Space exploration.