Zinc Sulfate Decomposition in a Solar Rotary Kiln

摘要

A rotary kiln built for tests with the solar furnace at White Sands, New Mexico is described, in order to examine the use of a solar thermal power source with the Zinc Sulfate Subcycle. The experiments are designed to study the advantages of the high temperatures and rapid heating rates provided by solar thermal power for the decomposition of zinc sulfate. These tests will also demonstrate the use of a rotating kiln that has been designed to couple with materials that have low absorptivities, such as solid sulfates. The experiments will establish the applicability of solar thermal power to sulfuric aicd-based thermochemical cycles which can be modified to use solid sulfate decomposition as the high temperature step.