Chemical Engineering Seminar
Current concentrated solar thermal technologies are based on solar receivers that usually operate below 500oC, coupled to steam-based Rankine cycles for power generation at 20% peak efficiency. Next generaton of technologies will operate at higher fluxes/higher temperatures and enable superior efficiencies via Brayton-Rankine combined cycles. Moreover, these advanced concepts can be applied for the thermochemical production of solar fuels.
I will present the engineering design and experimental demonstration of two novel solar receiver concepts for power and fuels production: 1) a solar receiver for heating compressed air to the entrance conditions of a gas turbine; and 2) a solar reactor for splitting H2O and CO2 via thermochemical redox cycles. Both concepts use reticulated porous ceramic (RPC) materials for efficient radiative transfer and enhanced reaction kinetics.