A laboratory-scale prototype windowed reactor using a fluidized bed of coal coke particles was tested for thermochemical gasification using concentrated Xe light radiation as an energy source. The ...fluidized-bed reactor, designed to be combined with a solar reflective tower or beam-down optics, is evaluated for steam gasification of coal coke according to gasification performance: CO, H2, and CO2 production rates; carbon conversion; light-to-chemical efficiency. Internal circulation of coal coke particles inside the reactor increases gasification performance, which is further enhanced by higher steam partial pressure of the inlet gas.
•A reactor prototype was designed for solar steam gasification by beam-down optics.•Particle circulation homogenizes temperature distribution across all bed layers.•The reactor design of internal circulation improved gasification performances.
•Recent developments of solar particle reactors for solar thermochemical processes have been reviewed.•Presents review of particle reactors for solar two-step water splitting with metal ...oxides.•Presents review of direct and indirect particle reactors for metal oxide processes.•Presents review of solar gasification using particle reactors.
Utilization of solar thermal power for high temperature fuel production has the potential to significantly reduce the fossil fuel dependence of our current economy. Over the past two decades, remarkable progress has been made in the development of solar driven thermochemical reactors for the production of hydrogen and syngas as they are promising energy carriers for transportation, domestic and industrial applications. However, there are solar peculiarities in comparison to conventional thermochemical processes – high thermal flux density and frequent thermal transients because of the fluctuating insolation-, and conventional industrial thermochemical reactors are generally not suitable for solar driven reactors. Therefore, solar-specific modifications of reactor design are necessary to realize efficient solar driven thermochemical processes. In solar thermochemical reactors, the methods for solar-heating particulate solid feedstock to high temperatures can be broadly classified as solar “directly” and “indirectly” absorbing reactors. On solar thermochemical processes involving reacting solid particles at high temperatures, such as “solar two-step water splitting with metal oxides” and “solar gasification”, various types of solar directly and indirectly absorbing particle reactors have been developed. In this review, recent development of solar particle reactors for the above solar thermochemical processes is described.
A laboratory-scale prototype windowed internally circulating fluidized-bed reactor made of quartz sand and coal coke particles was investigated for steam gasification using concentrated Xe-light ...radiation as the energy source. The quartz sand was used as a chemically inert bed material for the fluidized bed, while the coal coke particles functioned as the reacting particles for the endothermic gasification reaction. The advantages of using quartz sand as the bed material for the directly irradiated gasification reactor are as follows: (1) The bed height is maintained at a constant level during the gasification. (2) The quartz sand functions as a thermal transfer/storage medium inside the reactor. The gasification performances such as the production rates of CO, H2, and CO2; carbon conversion; and light-to-chemical energy conversion were evaluated for the fluidized-bed reactor with a thermal transfer/storage medium (quartz sand). The effects of using the bed material (quartz sand) on the gasification performance are described in this paper.
•Quartz sand was used as a chemically inert bed material for the fluidized bed.•Coal coke worked as the reacting particles for the endothermic gasification reaction.•Directly light-irradiated reactor was studied for steam gasification of coal cokes.
In order to produce electricity beyond insolation hours and supply to the electrical grid, thermal energy storage (TES) system plays a major role in CSP (concentrated solar power) plants. Current CSP ...plants use molten salts as both sensible heat storage media and heat transfer fluid, to operate up to 560°C. To meet the future high operating temperature and efficiency, thermochemical storage (TCS) emerged as an attractive alternatives for next generation CSP plants. In these systems, the solar thermal energy is stored by endothermic reaction and subsequently released when the energy is needed by exothermic reversible reaction. This review compares and summarizes different thermochemical storage systems that are currently being investigated, especially TCS based on metal oxides. Various experimental, numerical, and technological studies on the development of particle reactors and materials for high‐temperature TCS applications are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of different types heat storage systems (sensible, latent, and thermochemical), and particle receivers (stacked, fluidized, and entrained), have been discussed and reported.
This article is categorized under:
Sustainable Energy > Solar Energy
Emerging Technologies > Energy Storage
Emerging Technologies > Materials
Solar thermal Energy storage.
•Presents heat and mass transfer characteristics of spout fluidized bed reactor for solar thermal applications.•Interaction between concentrated radiation and fluidized bed is presented.•Influence of ...irradiation power, gas flow rate, bed mass on the gas–solid heat transfer characteristics is analyzed.
Gasification of carbonaceous materials using concentrated solar thermal radiation has been considered as one of the promising renewable pathways to produce syngas. In this study, thermal performance of a recently developed solar thermochemical reactor is presented. To analyze the gas–solid flow and heat transfer characteristics of the reactor, a transient three dimensional numerical model has been developed using discrete element method and computational fluid dynamics. Particle collision dynamics has been solved by the spring-dashpot model based on the soft-sphere method. To perform model verification, experiments have been performed using 30kWth fluidized bed reactor prototype under high flux solar simulator. The particulate and thermal characteristics of spout, annulus and fountain of the fluidized bed are analyzed for different irradiation power, loaded powder and gas flow rates. The results indicate that large and small size particles govern the bottom and fountain part of the bed respectively due to gravitational force, and the peak temperature is moved from fountain core to the fountain periphery of the bed when increasing the gas flow rate.
The heat-discharging kinetics of an iron-substituted Mn2O3/Mn3O4 redox pair subjected to long-term thermal cycling tests using a temperature swing process at high temperatures was investigated for ...next-generation concentrated solar power plants equipped with thermochemical energy storage. The heat-discharge mode kinetics for long-term thermal-cycled samples have never been reported. Additionally, comparisons of the heat-discharge mode kinetics for both long-term thermal-cycled and as-prepared samples have never been discussed. In terms of the reproducibility and sustainability of thermochemical energy storage, kinetic evaluations of samples with thermally stable morphologies subjected to long-term thermal cycling at high temperatures are important for next-generation solar thermal power plants. For the long-term thermal-cycled sample, the A2 model based on the Avrami–Erofeev reaction describes the discharging mode behavior in a fractional conversion range of 0–0.24, the contracting area (R2) model best fits in a fractional conversion range of 0.24–0.50, and the third-order (F3) model matches in a fractional conversion range of 0.50–0.70. For the as-prepared sample, the power-law (P2) model describes the behavior of the first part of the discharging mode, whereas the Avrami–Erofeev (A4) model best fits the last half of the discharging mode. The predicted theoretical models for both samples were compared with previous kinetic data.
Double-walled reactor tubes containing thermal storage materials based on the molten carbonate salts—100 wt% Na2CO3 molten salt, 90 wt% Na2CO3/10 wt% MgO and 80 wt% Na2CO3/20 wt% MgO composite ...materials—were studied for the performances of the reactor during the heat charging mode, while those of methane reforming with steam during heat discharging mode for solar steam reforming. The variations in the temperatures of the catalyst and storage material, methane conversion, duration of reforming for obtaining high levels of methane conversion (>90%), higher heating value (HHV) power of reformed gas and efficiency of the reactor tubes were evaluated for the double-walled reactor tubes and a single-wall reactor tube without the thermal storage. The results for the heat charging mode indicated that the composite thermal storage could successfully store the heat transferred from the exterior wall of the reactor in comparison to the pure molten-salt. The double-walled reactor tubes with the 90 wt% Na2CO3/10 wt% MgO composite material was the most desirable for steam reforming of methane to realize large HHV amounts of reformed gas and higher efficiencies during heat-discharging mode.
•Double-walled reactor tubes containing high-temperature thermal storage are examined for solar steam reforming.•The reactor performances were evaluated for the heat charging, while those of steam reforming for heat discharging.•The 90 wt% Na2CO3/10 wt% MgO composite material was the most desirable for steam reforming of methane by the reactor tubes.
The operational mode of a batch-type fluidized bed reactor containing quartz sand and coal-coke particles was tested under xenon arc lamp (Xe-light) illumination to develop processes for the ...continuous feeding and gasification of coke particles in the quartz sand fluidized bed. This paper focuses on the fluidizing, heating, and steam gasification performances of a windowed internally circulating fluidized bed reactor. The operational modes explored in this study were: (1) elevated temperature processes associated with the use of Xe-light radiation to reach gasification temperatures, and, (2) the gasification process driving steam gasification at high-temperatures, working with stream gasification of continuously-fed coal-coke. The gasification performances were used to evaluate the performance of quartz sand as a thermal-transfer/sensible heat-storage medium. The peak rate of gas production was greatly enhanced for the high volume fraction of coal-coke. In addition, the light-to-energy conversion rate of 11.0–13.2% and carbon conversion rate up to 80% were reached in the simplified distributor structure of gasification reactor.
•Perforated flat-plate distributor with patterned holes improved thermal durability.•Production rates for all gas species were enhanced with increasing steam flow rate.•Flow ratio impacts temperature levels and stability of the ICBF for gasification.•Light-to-energy conversion 13.2% was obtained at a maximum for the ICFB reactor.
We studied the performance in terms of the long-term cyclic thermal storage and heat-charging kinetics of Fe-substituted manganese oxide for use in thermochemical energy storage at temperatures ...exceeding 550 °C in a next-generation concentrated solar power system in which a gas stream containing oxygen is used for reversible thermochemical processes. The Fe-substituted Mn2O3 was evaluated from the viewpoint of its microstructural characteristics, thermodynamic phase transitions, and long-term cycling stability. A kinetic analysis of the heat-charging mode was performed at different heating rates to formulate the kinetic equation and describe the reaction mechanism by determining the appropriate reaction model. Finally, the kinetics data for the sample obtained after the long-term cycling test were compared and evaluated with those of the as-prepared sample and kinetic literature data tested under different conditions. For the long-term cycled sample, the Avrami–Erofeev reaction model (An) with n = 2 describes the behavior of the first part of the charging mode, whereas the contracting area (R2) reaction model best fits the last half of the charging mode. For the as-prepared sample, except for the early stage of the charging mode (fractional conversion < 0.2), the contracting volume (R3) reaction model fits the charging mode over a fractional conversion range of 0.2–1.0 and the first-order (F1) reaction model fits in the fractional conversion range of 0.4–1.0. The predicted kinetic equations for both the samples were in good agreement with the experimental kinetic data.
