• Energy Research

Abstract A high flux solar simulator allows the lab-scale assessment of solar reactor concepts by irradiating a target with high flux thermal energy, similarly to reactors installed in concentrated solar radiation facilities such as central towers with a heliostat field. In the current study, the design and construction of a high flux solar simulator facility for near realistic solar experiments is presented. A simple, cavity-tubular thermochemical reactor is employed for the evaluation of the redox activity of structured monolithic bodies (foams and honeycombs) consisting entirely of NiFe2O4 w.r.t·H2O splitting, CO2 splitting and combined H2O-CO2 splitting reactions. Experiments under realistic conditions, i.e. a solar reactor under irradiation, were conducted to assess the solar fuels production capability, which was examined at the structure level and the reactor level. The best performing structure was the NiFe2O4 foam. Further multilevel research (structure, reactor as well as redox material), will improve product yield and reactor efficiency.

A tutorial on the use of Side-Stream Reactor (SSR) technology is presented for screening different combustion engine particulate reduction technologies using small-scale filter segments in a well-controlled environment under realistic engine exhaust conditions. The testing examples include the evaluation of particulate filter flow resistance, soot loading, and soot oxidation (regeneration) performance.

Abstract Structured bodies from redox materials are a key element for the implementation of thermochemical cycles on suitable reactors for the solar H 2 O splitting. In the current work different configurations of nickel ferrite were investigated with respect to their performance in H 2 O splitting: i) powder, ii) disk, iii) honeycomb flow-through monoliths. The structured bodies were prepared via pressing and extrusion techniques. The performance of the different structures was affected significantly by differences in the structural characteristics. Alternative approaches involving casting techniques for the structuring of nickel ferrite porous bodies were also investigated. This work constitutes a preliminary attempt towards tuning such characteristics to achieve enhanced and cycle-to-cycle stable production yields.