Pressurized Fluidized Bed

Design and fabrication of a test station to verify quantitative and qualitative particle fluidization properties in a pressurized environment. The station utilizes a pneumatic lift and screw feeding to achieve a flow-controlled two-phase transport loop. The solid media is filtered from the transport air by a combination of cyclonic separation and HEPA filtration to meet OSHA requirements. Particularly creative design solutions were required to achieve the hermetic vessel-in-vessel design which better-reflects industry practices.

Journal of Applied Thermal Engineering (2022): System and Component Development for Long-Duration Energy Storage using Particle Thermal Energy Storage (Link to DOI)

‍Journal of Solar Energy Eng. (2022): Preliminary Component Design and Cost Estimation of a Novel Electric-Thermal Energy Storage System Using Solid Particles (Link to DOI)

Frontiers in Energy Research (2020): Thermal Analysis of Insulation Design for a Thermal Energy Storage Silo Containment for Long-Duration Electricity Storage (Link to DOI)

‍Journal of Energy Storage (2019): Design Analysis of a Particle-Based Thermal Energy Storage System for Concentrating Solar Power or Grid Energy Storage (Link to DOI)

Particle-based Thermal Energy Storage Systems (Link to US 11,181,326 B2)

Electric Charging Particle Heater for Thermal Energy Storage (Link to US 11,631,992 B2)

Thermochemical Reactor Cavity

Design, fabrication, and installation of reticular porous ceramic (RPC) receiver reactor cavities for solar thermochemical synthesis gas generation at 1500°C. Synthesis gas (H₂+CO) is liberated through two-step metal-oxide cycling, and further processed into liquid fuels (e.g., kerosene, gasoline) via the Fischer-Tropsch process. The receiver reactors are implemented in both solar dish and tower configurations.

Joule (2022): A Solar Tower Fuel Plant for the Thermochemical Production of Kerosene from H₂O and CO₂ (Link to DOI)

Journal of Solar Energy Eng. (2019): Heat Transfer Model of a 50 kW Solar Receiver–Reactor for Thermochemical Redox Cycling Using Cerium Dioxide (Link to DOI)

AIP Conference Proceedings (2019): Reticulated Porous Ceramic Ceria Structures with Modified Surface Geometry for Solar Thermochemical Splitting of Water and Carbon Dioxide (Link to DOI)