Solarthermal Processing: A Review

Abstract

Research on solarthermal processing and the need for alternative energy sources have reached the point where efforts to develop some industrial processes and expand research to suggest others are at least desirable, if not imperative. This paper presents a rationale for such an effort, describes the underlying thermodynamics, and summarizes much of the research which has been conducted in the years since the end of World War II. Major emphasis is placed on the work that has been done since the imposition of the 1973 oil embargo and the present.

Functioning devices for solar to fuel conversion

“…Depending on the solar flux concentration, the subsequent optimum temperatures vary between 1100 and 1800 K [56]. More detailed thermodynamic evaluations of solar thermochemical processes have been reviewed elsewhere [10,54,57,58].…”

Modeling and Performance Analysis of Biomass Fast Pyrolysis in a Solar-Thermal Reactor

“…This pioneering work was then followed by numerous experiments on various types of solar reactors for the transformation of various carbonaceous materials to fuel (e.g. Ingel et al; 9 Steinfeld and Fletcher; 10 Fletcher; 11 Steinfeld and Palumbo 12 ).…”

Annual Performance of a Solar-Thermochemical Hydrogen Production Plant Based on CeO2 Redox Cycle

“…Hydrogen is an energy carrier in addition to a commodity used for the several industrial processes (Ramachandran and Menon, 1998). Nevertheless, direct thermolysis of H 2 O requires temperatures well above 2000 K to obtain significant H 2 concentrations (Fletcher, 2001). In addition, to avoid the recombination of the product gas H 2 and O 2 upon cooling, they need to be separated at the dissociation temperature, which is technically challenging (Fletcher, 2001).…”