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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
The Design And Manufacturing Of The Solar Furnace Reactor Table, Chris Baum, Zach Saylor, Andrew Schiller
The Design And Manufacturing Of The Solar Furnace Reactor Table, Chris Baum, Zach Saylor, Andrew Schiller
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The James S. Markiewicz Solar Energy Research Facility at Valparaiso University will concentrate energy from the sun into a reactor containing unprocessed materials. The concentrated light causes a reaction to occur, turning unprocessed materials into alternative energy products. Accurate placement of the reactor at the focal point of the concentrator is necessary to allow the maximum amount of solar energy to enter the reactor. The Reactor Table was designed and built by Valparaiso University students and faculty. The table controls the placement of the reactor at the focal point of the concentrator quickly and easily by using a computer located …
Designing A Calorimeter To Calibrate An Optical Radiative Flux Measurement System To Find The Power Entering A Solar Reactor, Jesse Fosheim, Melissa Meyer, Jonathan Ogland-Hand
Designing A Calorimeter To Calibrate An Optical Radiative Flux Measurement System To Find The Power Entering A Solar Reactor, Jesse Fosheim, Melissa Meyer, Jonathan Ogland-Hand
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
A solar furnace has been constructed at Valparaiso University to test the performance of various solar chemical reactors. A primary performance index of a solar chemical reactor is the efficiency, or the fraction of the energy that enters the reactor that is utilized in the chemical reaction. To calculate this efficiency, we must first know how much solar power is entering the reactor. An optical radiative flux measurement system has been developed that gives the solar flux distribution over the aperture of the reactor, but must be calibrated to provide the actual power level. Therefore, a calorimeter was designed and …
Electrical Control And Safety System For Solar Furnace, Parisa Nasserifar, Jason Toberman
Electrical Control And Safety System For Solar Furnace, Parisa Nasserifar, Jason Toberman
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The Valparaiso University College of Engineering has recently received a donor gift and a federal earmark to design and manufacture a solar furnace facility. In the solar facility, a heliostat will reflect sunlight straight into the concentrator at every instant. However, due to manufacturing tolerances and inaccuracy in sun’s position model a sun sensor is added in the heliostat sun tracking system. The sun sensor fine adjusts the heliostat’s position so the reflected sunlight is normal to the concentrator. Our goal is to develop a sun sensor that provides an unbalanced output signal when the sensors receive an unbalanced light …
Vu Solar Furnace: Final Design And Construction Of Louver System, Chris Baum, Zach Saylor, Andrew Schiller, Gretchen Vanheeren
Vu Solar Furnace: Final Design And Construction Of Louver System, Chris Baum, Zach Saylor, Andrew Schiller, Gretchen Vanheeren
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
Solar energy is an environmentally clean and abundant alternative to the use of fossil fuels. One method of harnessing solar energy, solar thermal electrochemistry, uses a solar furnace to concentrate sunlight and heat a reactor to temperatures around 2000 K. At such high temperatures, metallic oxides can be decomposed into metals and oxygen with minimal electrical work. The solar furnace used for this process consists of a heliostat, which tracks the sun; a concentrator, which focuses the light to a single point; and a reactor in which the chemical reaction takes place. To control the amount of sunlight entering the …
The Solar Thermal Decoupled Electrolysis Of Water Process: An Investigation Of The Electrochemistry In A Base, Jessica Guertin
The Solar Thermal Decoupled Electrolysis Of Water Process: An Investigation Of The Electrochemistry In A Base, Jessica Guertin
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)
The solar research team at Valparaiso University is developing solar thermal chemical processes that will transform solar energy into economically viable and reusable energy forms. One subgroup is working on the Solar Thermal Decoupled Electrolysis of Water Process. In this multi-step process, the electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen occurs at room temperature outside of the solar reactor, and it is facilitated by the oxidation of magnetite (Fe3O4) to hematite (Fe2O3). The hematite is then pumped to the solar reactor where it is reduced back to magnetite at high temperatures with the liberation of oxygen. This cycle is then repeated. …