Researchers from South Australia will collaborate with industrial partners to build a concentrated solar thermal factory in New South Wales with lightweight plastic mirrors with a reflective coating of aluminum-silica to produce industrial heat or electricity.
The University of South Australia (Unisa) has joined forces with the company based in Queensland, has an influence on Renewable Energy and Charles Sturt University (CSU) to build a concentrated solar thermal (CST) plant using plastic mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a target -scale and agricultural apps.
The demonstration plant will have the patented lightweight plastic mirror panels of impact with a multi-layered aluminum-silica reflective coating developed by the Future Industries Institute of Unisa. The coasts are used on the panels via a physical vapor deposits to guarantee sustainability and optimum sun resistance.
Project leader Marta Llusca Jane said that the purpose of the demonstration plant, built on CSU’s Global Digital Farm at Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, is to generate thermal energy at temperatures between 100 C and 400 ° C – ideal for fossils that are currently dependent on fossils.
“Industrial process heat is good for a stunning 25% of global energy consumption and 20% of CO2 Emissions, “she said.” Unfortunately, most renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaisies, lack the requirements of these sectors at the high temperature. Our plastic-based CST technology fills that gap and does this with considerable costs and installation benefits. “
Unisa said that the technology is 40% cheaper than existing CST designs and up to 70% cheaper than existing non-renewable fuels, while the mirrors weigh 50% less than conventional glass heliostats. In addition, the plastic mirror panels of the effects with flat, transported and assembled can easily be assembled.
“These mirrors … offer an affordable and easy -to -try alternative to traditional thermal systems based on a glass,” the academics said. “They generate heat that can be applied directly into industrial processes or to heat water to create steam to provide a turbine with power and produce electricity.”
Unisa Industry Professor Colin Hall, who has invented the plastic mirror coating technology that is already used in the automotive industry, said that the time is ripe for such innovation in the large-scale agribusiness and industrial sectors.
“We see record prices for fossil fuels and increasing pressure for industries to decipher,” he said. “This CST solution is uniquely suitable for the hot, dry climate of Australia and offers a feasible path to zero mission process heat.”
Unisa said that the Demonstration Center, supported by an Aud 497,250 ($ 317,000) subsidy, secured by the Aud of the Federal Government 1.6 billion Australia Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite program, will enable the project partners to scales the technology for Real-World applications.
The first phase of the project includes the manufacture and installation of two full CST modules, each of which consists of 16 of the coated panels.
In a proposed second phase, a larger pilot factory will be tested on a commercial scale with important agribusiness and industrial partners.
Jane said that the project was set to transform the Australia’s industrial heat sector by reducing its dependence on fossil fuels with the technology that is already “strong interest” of industry.
“By proving this technology in the field, we lay the foundation for a cleaner, more resilient energy system throughout Australia and then,” she said.
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