The ZnO produced is used again for the dissociation process, thus completing the two step cycle. The
separation of zinc vapor and oxygen in the first step is accomplished by quenching the gas mixture in an
inert atmosphere of argon gas. The exergy efficiency for a 10 kW reactor has a maximum value of 29%
without any heat recovery but the theoretical maximum with heat recovery during quenching and
hydrolysis is 82% [2]. The first step of the cycle is performed in a direct incident solar thermo-chemical
reactor. The process occurs in a rotating cavity receiver lined with ZnO particles held to the cavity wall
by centrifugal action while exposing the particles to highly concentrated solar radiation.
The objective of this work is to numerically model the solar thermo-chemical reactor coupling the
granular particle physics, radiation modelling, and chemical reaction modelling using a finite volume
based CFD package and to simulate the various processes occurring within the reactor.