SOLAR FUELS AND CHEMICALS, ANNUAL OPERATING PLAN FY83

ABSTRACT:
This AOP presents the goals, objectives, justification and technical plan for a Solar Thermal Fuels and Chemical Program. This new major thrust is complementary to, and synergistic with, the other Solar Thermal programmatic elements of electric production and industrial process heat. This

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program has two major elements. The first is a Solar Hydrogen Project. Following technical and economic analysis, this project was selected to focus and force the development of the technical base toward production of hydrogen via solar water splitting technology. The strategy is to use the project as a mechanism for the identification and resolution of key design, technical and engineering problems likely to be encountered in a full scale solar fuel production system. A ten-year developmental plan is described. The effort will culminate in a large scale System Research Experiment (SRE) that will produce solar hydrogen at a rate of 2500-3000 liters/minute. The second program element is Technology Development. A strategy is described that provides a management structure to evaluate, prioritize and develop those critical elements of the underlying technology that will be required to carry out the Solar Hydrogen Project within a solar field. Additionally, solar unique qualities such as high temperature, high flux and heating rates, and photolytic properties will be investigated as part of this effort. Where technically feasible, solar unique subsystems will be substituted into the Solar Hydrogen Project. Special attention will be paid to expanding the technology base to optimise interim industrial applications.

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