7 Design of a laboratory-scale solar furnace for lime production

Fields:

Solar Energy, Heat Transfer, Design

Supervisors:

Dr. Gus Nathan and Mr Richard Craig

Moderator:

Antoni Blazewicz

Number of Students:

Huat Lee Ting, Benjamin Lik Wei Sung and Teng Eik Su

Description:

Solar furnaces use concentrated solar radiation to provide the heat source for the furnace. The potential advantages of solar energy are its reduced levels of pollution, especially of greenhouse gas emissions. Its disadvantages include the high cost of solar concentrators, the intermittent nature of sunlight and the relatively low level of development of the technology. Lime is particularly well suited to the use of solar energy for heating and the supervisors are involved in the development of a solar-lime processing technology.

The aim of the project is to design a laboratory-scale solar furnace to be housed at the Thebarton Campus. The project will develop the specifications for the solar concentrators, their location, their control and recommend low-cost commercially available options. It will also develop a basic design for the furnace. From this a cost-estimate will be obtained.

The project is well suited to a team of two people, although a team of three is also possible. It will be of interest to anyone interested in solar energy, heat transfer and design.