Aussi petcare firm taps both solar technologies for industrial heat

  Mars Petcare will use this kind of parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal (CST) collectors for direct solar industrial heat and a thermal energy storage system also heated by electricity from Victoria’s solar-rich grid Mars petcare factory to tap sunlight for CST heat plus leverage Victoria’s world-leading renewable grid to electrically heat thermal energy storage. …

Published at Solar Compass – A critical perspective and analysis of two-step thermochemical fuel production cycles

Abstract: Two-step thermochemical fuel production cycles powered using concentrating solar systems offer a route to convert solar energy to chemical fuels. In this work, we offer a critical assessment of the state of the art, a detailed technical analysis of this technology in terms of theoretical limitations and potential performance, and potential paths forward in …

Published at Applied Thermal Engineering – Investigations of inlet arrangement strategies and particle parameters on thermochemical performance in falling particle solar reactors

Abstract: The reformation of methane to hydrogen and steam in a falling particle solar reactor (FPSR) is a promising method to use the solar energy, which converts solar energy into chemical energy. FPSR has higher operation temperature, higher pressure bearing capacity and more direct heat energy storage than those of traditional reactor. However, due to …

Published at Applied Thermal Engineering – Proposal of a novel solar-driven thermochemical reactor for green hydrogen production using helical flow channels

Abstract: The reactor is the core component of the hydrogen production system. Although hydrogen production using solar energy as the heat source can effectively reduce carbon emissions, the reactor faces the problem of uneven heating caused by the collector, and the uneven temperature distribution will significantly affect the hydrogen production process. A key characteristic of …

Dr. Aldo Steinfeld and Dr. Manuel Romero win the 2024 SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award

Manuel Romero and Aldo Steinfeld receive the SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award from Robert Pitz-Paal On the closing day of the SolarPACES 2024 conference in Rome, Aldo Steinfeld and Manuel Romero were jointly awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of their over 20 years collaboration in pioneering and developing the use of concentrated solar thermal …

Hot solar hydrogen reactors on a conveyor belt get a fast study

Heat from solar for a hydrogen production system working like a conveyor belt MIT’s Heat-based solar hydrogen from a train of solar reactors boasts 70% heat recovery and heat-to-hydrogen from 10% to 40% In solar reactors that use solar-heated thermo-chemistry to produce hydrogen from water, heat recovery is needed to increase efficiency and, thus, lower …