1.1 Solar thermo-chemical reactor
The solar reactor configuration consists of 160 mm diameter rotating cylindrical cavity which is
composed of sintered ZnO tiles glued on sintered alumina insulation [3]. The ZnO tiles serve as shock
absorber and thermal insulator. The cavity wall is further surrounded by a layer of insulating alumina
fibers whose density is much lesser than sintered alumina thus reducing the sensible heat loss.
Concentrated solar radiation enters the cavity through a quartz window which is mounted on a conical
frustum attached to the cavity of the reactor. The radiation further enters the cavity through a 30 mm
diameter aperture. Preheated argon quench gas at 1000 K is injected through 6 nozzles placed
symmetrically around the conical wall at a mass flow rate of 0.02 g/s through each nozzle.