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Published in:
2022 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Solar Energy in Thermochemical Processing
Excerpt
Aperture
Opening of a solar cavity receiver.
Carnot efficiency
Maximum efficiency for converting heat from a high-temperature thermal reservoir at T
H into work in a cyclic process, and rejecting heat to a low-temperature thermal reservoir at T
L, given by 1 − T
L/T
H.
CB (carbon black)
Important industrial raw material used as pigment and reinforcement in rubber and plastic products.
CPC (compound parabolic concentrator)
Nonimaging concentrating device that is usually positioned in tandem with the primary parabolic concentrating system to further augment the solar concentration ratio.
CSP (concentrating solar power)
CSP plants generate electricity by converting solar energy into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations.
Direct normal solar irradiance
Power flux of direct solar irradiation on a surface perpendicular to the sun’s rays
Endothermic
Absorbs heat.
Exergy efficiency (for a solar thermochemical process)
The efficiency for converting solar energy into chemical energy, given by the ratio of the maximum work that may be extracted from a solar fuel to the solar energy input for producing such a fuel.
Exothermic
Rejects heat.
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts a fuel into electricity. In the presence of an electrolyte, a fuel (e.g., hydrogen) and an oxidant (e.g., oxygen or air) react and generate an electric current.
PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell
PEM fuel cells also called proton exchange membrane fuel cells - deliver high-power density and offer the advantages of low weight and volume, compared with other fuel cells.
Quench
Rapid cooling, for example, of a high-temperature gas mixture to avoid recombination of products.
Solar cavity receiver
A well-insulated enclosure, with a small opening to let in concentrated solar energy, which approaches a blackbody absorber in its ability to capture solar energy.
Solar chemical heat pipe
Concept for storing and transporting solar energy using a reversible endothermic reaction.
Solar concentration ratio
Nondimensional ratio of the solar flux intensity (e.g., in “suns”) achieved after concentration to the normal insolation of incident beam.
Solar fuels
Fuels produced with solar energy.
Solar thermochemical process
Any endothermic process that uses concentrated solar energy as the source of high-temperature process heat.
Syngas
Synthesis gas (a mixture of primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide), which serves as the building block for a wide variety of synthetic fuels including Fischer-Tropsch type chemicals, hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol.
