Application of an Internally Circulating Fluidized Bed for Windowed Solar Chemical Reactor with Direct Irradiation of Reacting Particles

Abstract

Solar thermochemical processes require the development of a high-temperature solar reactor operating at 1000–1500°C, such as solar gasification of coal and the thermal reduction of metal oxides as part of a two-step water splitting cycle. Here, we propose to apply “an internally circulating fluidized bed” for a windowed solar chemical reactor in which reacting particles are directly illuminated. The prototype reactor was constructed in a laboratory scale and demonstrated on CO2 gasification of coal coke using solar-simulated, concentrated visible light from a sun simulator as the energy source. About 12% of the maximum chemical storage efficiency was obtained by the solar-simulated gasification of the coke.