Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, August 2000; final revision, January 2001. Associate Editor: D. M. Blake.
Concentrated solar energy can be used to drive thermochemical reactions 1. Among the great number of suggested chemical systems, the dissociation of ZnO 2 and the thermochemical conversion of carbonaceous materials (biomass for example) 3 are often mentioned. These reactions are usually independently studied:
The solar carboreduction of ZnO has been recently suggested 9 10 with three main advantages: decrease of the temperature at which zinc can be formed, simultaneous production of syngas and minimization of the severity of the quench section. The reaction can be carried out with coal or with carbon. It involves several mechanisms including reduction with CO. A new idea would consist...
