solar furnaces

Solar Furnaces

Azeez Akeem Abiodun

40432

Ibrahim Jumal

40433

Cooper Kollie LackayLecturer: Prof. Esidor Ntsoenzok

Group 5

Outline

What are solar furnaces?

History of solar furnaces

Fundamental of solar furnaces

Types of solar furnaces

State of art design of solar furnaces

Application and general uses of solar furnaces in Africa

Impact of solar furnaces in Africa

How solar furnace works

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Sun: Power house of the solar system

The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains

more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter

contains most of the rest).

diameter: 1,390,000 km.

mass: 1.989e30 kg

temperature: 5800 K (surface) 15,600,000 K (core)

The sun’s energy output (3.86 x10 26Watts) is produced by nuclear

fusion reaction.

The sun [8]3

What are solar furnaces?Solar furnace is a device that uses an array of mirrors to redirect

and concentrate the sun’s rays onto a small surface area thus

producing extremely high temperature.

The temperature can go as high as 3500o C.

http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il 4

History of Solar furnaces

Legend claims that Archimedes used polished shields to

concentrate sunlight on the invading Roman fleet and repel

them from Syracuse.

Archimedes “heat ray” gun. (a legend only)[1]5

History of Solar furnaces cont’d

By focusing sunlight over flammable materials using lenses,

combustion was generated, experiment conducted by

Lavoisier Circa 1770s.

The French chemist Lavoisier experimented with concentrating

solar energy using a large parabolic mirror.[1]

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History of Solar furnaces cont’d

In 1861, Mouchout developed a steam engine powered entirely by

the sun. He produced the first solar steam engine in history in

1866 by using a parabolic trough.

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History of Solar furnaces cont’d The solar furnace in Mont Louis, France, built in 1949 by

Professor Félix Trombe, was the first solar furnace in the

world.

In 1993,the solar furnace was used for industrial and

manufactured products such as the firing of ceramics, and

bronze and aluminum products.

The solar furnace in Mont Louis [5]8

Fundamental of Spherical mirror

A spherical mirror is a mirror which has the shape of a piece

cut out of a spherical surface. There are two types of

spherical mirrors: concave, and convex.

Image formation by a concave mirror[2]

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How solar furnaces work?

The operation principle of a solar furnace is quite simple. It

entails the use of two mirrors, plane mirror and parabolic

mirror. The plane mirror is known as Heliostat and is angled

such that it directs parallel beam of light to the parabolic

mirror. The parabolic mirror then brings the light beam to

focus at the focal point.

When the number of mirrors is increased, then it is possible

to achieve energy and heat levels where one can actually boil

water, cook food or even melt metals!. The amount of energy

and efficiency of the solar furnace relay completely on how

accurate the mirrors are focused on one point.

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How solar furnaces work?

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[5]

Types of solar furnaces

There are two types of solar furnaces:

Direct solar furnace

Heliostat solar furnace

12Types of solar furnaces[3]

General uses of solar furnaces

Running Steam Turbines for Solar Power Plants

Cook Food and Boil Water in a Solar Oven

Produce Hydrogen Fuel

Perform Scientific Experiments Which Require Extreme

Temperatures Without Pollution

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Application of solar furnaces in

Africa

Domestic uses

− Cooking

−Heating of water

Agricultural uses

−Drying of farm produce

− Incubation of chicken

Industrial uses

− Recycling of waste

−Welding of machine parts

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Application of solar furnaces in

Africa

Small natural convection solar dryer design.[4]

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Impact of Solar furnaces in Africa

Environment

− Prevention of desert encroachment

−Decrease in overdependence of fossil fuel

−Global warming

Economic

− Recycling of waste

− Recycling of metal scrap

sun’s rays are focused on the crucible holding the

ore [3]

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State of art designs of solar furnaces

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State of art designs of solar furnaces

high power concentrated solar power stations [9] 18

Prospect of solar furnaces

It is believed that solar furnaces can be used in the production

of aerospace products, defense products, and in electronics.

Solar furnaces also could be used to break down and destroy

toxic waste.

High flux solar furnace would replace laser furnaces and

furnaces using fossil fuels.

Solar furnace application can be expanded to metallurgical

industries

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Advantages

heat produced is very clean Can be applied where pollution is to

be avoided

Research can take place in areas previously deemed too costly or

polluting to be worthwhile.

Low cost

Reduces the Need to Burn Fossil Fuels

Reduces the Need to Cut Down Forests For Firewood

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Limitation of Solar furnace

Solar furnace technology has existed for many years but has never

been fully explored or used on a widespread commercial basis.

It is unclear if solar furnaces will ever be used on any type of scale

because of the limitations in their placement and use.

Large solar concentrators are expensive.

They occupy large amount of space

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Innovative Ideas

Solar energy can be used in baking of pastries.

It can also be used in firing earthware materials like clay pots e.t.c

More awareness must be created to enlighten people on the usage and advantages of solar furnace.

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Conclusion

Solar furnace technology has existed for many years but never

has been fully explored or used on a widespread commercial

basis.

It is unclear if solar furnaces will ever be used on any type of

scale because of the limitations in their placement and use.

However, with research and development, there could be

breakthroughs that will improve the technology and/or lower the

cost.

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Acknowledgment

Prof. Esidor NTSOENZOK

Our fellow colleagues

Nelson Mandela Institute

Africa Development Bank (AFDB)

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References1. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_time_1900.html

2. http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il/energy/EnergySources/Solar/SolarF

urnace/FSolarFurnace16.htm (retrieved on 1/2/2016)

3. http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il

4. Solar Energy: Fundamentals and Applications By Garg &

Prakash, H. P. Garg

5. http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/solar4.htm

6. http://www.climatetechwiki.org/technology/jiqweb-edf

7. www.constructionphotography.com (retrieved on 1/2/2016)

8. http://nineplanets.org/sol.html (retrieved on 29/1/2016)

9. http://www.cmigroupe.com/ (retrieved on 30/1/2016)

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