An Integrated Model for Solar-Driven Biochar Production

This paper outlines the approach taken towards optically and thermally modelling a linear Fresnel solar collector system with laboratory validation. The model is to be used within a unique approach of linking concentrated solar technology with the thermochemical conversion of biomass to be used within rural areas of developing countries. Reactor design and integration strategies will be determined primarily by the amount of concentrated solar energy that can be generated from the concentrating solar collector. Analysis of the performance of the lab based model will allow scale up for testing by African partners in Uganda, Tanzania and Congo as part of a Royal Society DFID programme grant. The optical model produced via ray tracing code on MatLab, uses data secured from a solar irradiance experiment created at the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation in Uganda. The validation of the model comes from a computational fluid dynamics simulation produced in Ansys Fluent. Further validation will laboratory solar simulator made from 9 low voltage halogen projection lamps pointing towards 24 mirrors aligned in a linear Fresnel array, focused at a copper pipe.