SBIR Phase II: Interface for connecting high temperature solar collectors to legacy thermal systems

为工业过程供热而燃烧的燃料占地球表面所有碳排放量的20%-30%。然而，目前还没有无排放的工艺热解决方案。热能需要燃烧燃料。除了对当地空气质量和气候变化的影响外，对燃料的需求还造成了国内外的能源贫困。当燃料供应受到威胁时，它可能危及依赖燃料的人的生计。Skyven的影响？解决办法是把太阳变成一种可行的、实用的高温热能来源。它有潜力大幅减少二氧化碳排放，改善当地空气质量，减少能源贫困，并使美国多样化。美国能源供应。仅仅一个由500个收集器组成的Skyven项目就可以抵消29900加仑的柴油燃料，相当于规划4400棵树。Skyven计划在美国开展数千个项目，在全球开展数万个项目。有一天，IMA技术甚至可能使农村地区和发展中国家超越天然气分销基础设施，就像手机超越固定电话一样。这个项目是美国在技术领域发挥领导作用以实现这些社会变革的一个机会。这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将解决太阳能热在工业领域部署的一个关键障碍：缺乏将高温太阳能热系统与传统燃料热系统连接起来的有效接口。现有的接口仅限于低温(低于100？C)使用昂贵的容易失败的管道系统。它们的可靠性很差，造成了严重的维护问题，使它们无法在工业部门使用。这些系统通常还要求主机设备在安装期间处于离线状态。工业部门的巨大牺牲。温度限制尤其成问题，因为许多工业设施运行的高温冷凝水回流系统很少低于100℃。Skyven吗?S的系统级创新解决了这些挑战，使其高温太阳能集热器成为食品加工等行业实用且具有经济吸引力的选择。第二阶段的研究将特别实施两项创新：(1)将太阳能蒸汽注入传统燃油锅炉；(2)无线控制，具有自动光学校准/调试算法和故障安全滞止/过热保护。此外，该项目将在室外实验室规模的测试平台和现实世界的工业设施中验证高达200摄氏度的高温操作。它还将利用先进的可靠性工程概念，在不需要无限测试时间和测试资源的情况下，显示长期（20年）的可靠性。该项目还将推进工业控制工程领域的知识，表明新的工业系统可以通过创新的控制接口与现有控制集成，而无需对现有控制系统进行返工。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Fuel burned for industrial process heat accounts for 20%-30% of all carbon emissions on the face of the earth. Yet no emissions-free solutions for process heat are commonly available today. Thermal energy requires burning fuel. Beyond the impact to local air quality and climate change, the need for fuel creates energy poverty both domestically and abroad. When fuel supplies are threatened, it can endanger the livelihoods of those that depend on the fuel.The impact of Skyven?s solution is to turn the sun into a viable, practical source of high temperature thermal energy. It has the potential to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions, improve local air quality, reduce energy poverty, and diversify America?s energy supply. Just a single Skyven project of 500 collectors will offset 29,900 gallons of diesel fuel, equivalent to planning 4,400 trees. Skyven envisions doing thousands of projects across the USA and tens of thousands across the globe. One day IMA technology may even enable rural areas and developing nations to leapfrog natural gas distribution infrastructure in the same way that cellphones have leapfrogged landlines. This project is an opportunity for the United States to take a leadership role in technology to enable these societal changes.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will address a key barrier to solar thermal deployment in the industrial sector: lack of an effective interface to connect high temperature solar thermal system with legacy fuel-fired thermal systems. Existing interfaces are limited to low temperatures (below 100?C) and utilize costly plumbing schemes that are prone to failure. They suffer from poor reliability and create severe maintenance headaches, rendering them unusable in the industrial sector. These systems also typically require the host facility to be take offline during installation ? an costly sacrifice in the industrial sector. The temperature limitations are particularly problematic, as many industrial facilities operate high temperatures condensate return systems that rarely drop below 100?C. Skyven?s system-level innovations solve these challenges, making its high temperature solar thermal collectors a practical and financially-attractive option for industries such as food processing. Phase II research will implement two innovations in particular: (1) solar steam injection into a traditional fuel-fired boiler; and (2) wireless control with automated optical calibration/commissioning algorithms and failsafe stagnation/overheat protection. In addition, the project will prove out high temperature operation up to 200C, both in outdoor laboratory-scale testbed and later in a real-world industrial facility. It will also utilize advanced reliability engineering concepts to show long-term (20 year) reliability without requiring unlimited test time and testing resources. The project will also advance knowledge in the space of industrial controls engineering, showing that new industrial systems can be integrated with existing controls through innovative controls interfacing, without require rework of the existing control systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.