No abstract

Research has focused on dry reforming because it offers a sink for CO2 and relative to steam methane reforming produces a more desirable ratio of H2 to CO for feed to a Fischer−Tropsch synthesis process. To form synthesis gas by dry reforming in a rapid, environmentally benign manner, a fluid-wall aerosol flow reactor powered by concentrated sunlight has been designed. Operating with residence times on the order of 10 ms and temperatures of approximately 2000 K, CH4 and CO2 conversions of 70% and 65%, respectively, have been achieved in the absence of any added catalysts. Methane to carbon dioxide feed ratios greater than unity were fed in order to prevent reaction of CO2 with the graphite tube. The carbon black particles formed by reaction were amorphous carbon black with a primary particle size of approximately 20−40 nm.

No abstract

SolTrace is an optical simulation tool designed to model optical systems used in concentrating solar power (CSP) applications. The code was first written in early 2003, but has seen significant modifications and changes since its inception, including conversion from a Pascal-based software development platform to C++. SolTrace is unique in that it can model virtually any optical system utilizing the sun as the source. It has been made available for free and as such is in use worldwide by industry, universities, and research laboratories. The fundamental design of the code is discussed, including enhancements and improvements over the earlier version. Comparisons are made with other optical modeling tools, both non-commercial and commercial in nature. Finally, modeled results are shown for some typical CSP systems and, in one case, compared to measured optical data.

This paper describes a technique that uses an infrared (IR) camera to evaluate the in-situ thermal performance of parabolic trough receivers at operating solar power plants. The paper includes results to show how the glass temperature measured with the IR camera correlates with modeled thermal losses from the receiver. Finally, the paper presents results of a field survey that used this technique to quickly sample a large number of receivers to develop a better understanding of how both original and replacement receivers are performing after up to 17 years of operational service.