BEAM-DOWN SOLAR-THERMOCHEMICAL REACTOR FOR THE ULTRA-HIGH TEMPERATURE DISSOCIATION OF SOLID-OXIDES AND CREATION OF SOLAR FUELS AND MATERIALS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF

摘要

A cavity reaction chamber including a reaction surface in the shape of an inverted cone and having a top and a bottom. Powder supply containers supply a layer of powdered reactant to the reaction surface. A beam of incident radiation diverges onto the reaction surface. A gas outlet receives gas exiting the reaction chamber. In semi-continuous operation, the reactor further includes an annular solids outlet, surrounding the gas outlet and positioned to collect solids exiting the reaction chamber. The reactor may be used in a process for producing solar fuels and solar materials, for example, by concentrating sunlight as incident radiation, feeding ZnO as the powdered reactant, collecting dissociated Zn and O₂ as gaseous products, cooling gaseous products to precipitate solid Zn particles, reacting collected Zn particles with H₂O to create ZnO and H₂, recycling resulting ZnO into the feed stream, and capturing the H₂ and/or the O₂.