4 ms·

Now we just need to figure out how to keep a quartz window from shattering after cycling from ambient to 1500C ...every time a cloud passes.

• durkie 12y ago
  why? it seems like it'd be one of the best materials out there - it has a super low coefficient of thermal expansion, especially in comparison to many other materials.
  • ndonnellan 12y ago
    Oh it absolutely is, but if the chamber is under pressure (which they don't mention, but probably affects yield), there still will be a lot of stress. Syngas solar receivers are one of the unicorns of the solar industry.
    • durkie 12y ago
      interesting -- i wonder if they could have a 2 lens system where your overall system would look like: sun / outer lens / pressurized gas / quartz lens from diagram / reactor you could adjust the pressurized gas chamber pressure to match that of the reactor so that you're subjecting the quartz lens to a net zero bending moment/tension. ideally you could then make the outer lens out of something tougher than quartz and it wouldn't need as much high temperature strength since it's farther away from the reactor.