Making use of kilo-tonnes of generic tholins??

[Nik_2213]

Though not near-term, if you had access to kilo-tonnes of generic, trans-Neptunian tholins, what could you do with such 'Star Tar' ??

Perhaps gleaned from a Kuiper belt 'iceteroid', typically thirds each of ices, silicates and tholins...

 

[Rive]

Just feed it to plants.
Maybe after some distillation and cracking to have some lighter, useful polimer-bases salvaged.

 

[Hornbein]

The Internet says tholins are mostly gasses.

 

[Nik_2213]

Sorry, Tholins' precursors may be gaseous above 200 K, but ices at 'native' temperature of cometary nuclei, Kuiper belt and Oort cloud....

'Star Tar' generally contains a zoo of non-volatile stuff.
From the wiki... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tholin
quote:
Tholins are disordered polymer-like materials made of repeating chains of linked subunits and complex combinations of functional groups, typically nitriles and hydrocarbons, and their degraded forms such as amines and phenyls.
/

 

[Hornbein]

Oops you are right. That's what I get for skimming. A proud Internet tradition....

 

[Nik_2213]

FWIW, I met the terrestrial equivalent to tholins doing 'Organic Chemistry'...
On paper, a reaction would be eg A + B == Ether Reflux ==> C + traces of D.
In reality, A + B = Ether Reflux => C + D + E + F + G + H... + Much Brown Gunge stuck inside reaction flask...

 

[Hornbein]

You have taught me something. Anyway I bet you found no use for that brown gunge. It's too random and hard to work with. Though I suppose in outer space you might have no alternative. I can't say I have any clever ideas right off the bat.

 

[Nik_2213]

Given concerns about potentially toxic cogeners and isomers, the safest use may be as bacterial fermentation feed-stock to make predictable fibres, plastics etc.

Strictly no food-related uses, to be sure, to be sure...

 

[Rive]

I've been thinking on this for a while ...

As I see it the main problem is that separate it from harvested water is difficult. Distillation just won't work well with volatiles around. So, filtering will be needed, and that means it'll be bonded to some kind of substance (activated charcoal or something like that) at the end of the process.
You won't have goo, but a bunch of filter material waiting to be recycled...

Ps.: since it's filtering separation of solids in general won't be required either: only removing some metalic parts would be useful. With some chemical/biological woodoo it's just soil

 

[Nik_2213]

Um, volatiles may not be a problem, as those tholins are what's left after 'de-gassing'. I reckon if you warm up a chunk of generic 'iceteroid', you'll have about equal thirds of ice, silicate dust and tholins. Most of the ice is water. The rest's a mix of ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, formaldehyde, methanol and a zoo of trace stuff. "There's just enough hydrogen cyanide to be scary." IMHO, such are easily fractionated.

Degassed, the mix of tholins plus silicates will initially bear an un-happy resemblance to dried tar-sand, oily pumice or frothy molasses / black-treacle with equal measure of talc, so will need solvent extraction...

Perhaps super-critical CO2, as used for decaff coffee etc, may do the trick...

 

[Nik_2213]

After much research, I've decided on two routes...
Non-food track: Use de-volatilised tholins and mineral mix as feedstock for bacterial fermenter.
Food-track: Steam-cook, hydrolyse tholins, down to simple chemicals, use as 'Ponics etc fertiliser...

Thank you to all who've contributed !!