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

燃烧工业过程热量的燃料占地球表面所有碳排放的20%-30%。然而，目前还没有普遍可用的工艺热零排放解决方案。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，对燃料的需求在国内外都造成了能源贫困。当燃料供应受到威胁时，可能会危及依赖燃料的人的生计。天文？S的解决方案的影响是将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-S能源供应多样化。仅一个由500名收集者组成的Skyven项目就可以抵消2.99万加仑柴油的影响，相当于规划了4400棵树。Skyven设想在美国各地开展数千个项目，在全球范围内开展数万个项目。有朝一日，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。这个项目是美国在推动这些社会变革的技术方面发挥领导作用的一个机会。这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将解决工业部门太阳能热能部署的一个关键障碍：缺乏有效的接口来连接高温太阳能热能系统和传统的燃油热能系统。现有的接口仅限于低温(低于100摄氏度)，并且使用昂贵的管道方案，容易出现故障。它们的可靠性很差，并且造成严重的维护问题，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过程中离线？这在工业部门是一种代价高昂的牺牲。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会低于100摄氏度。天闻？S系统级的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的实用且经济上有吸引力的选择。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的燃油锅炉；(2)采用自动光学校准/调试算法和故障安全停滞/过热保护的无线控制。此外，该项目将证明高温运行高达200摄氏度，无论是在室外实验室规模的试验台上，后来在现实世界的工业设施中。它还将利用先进的可靠性工程概念来显示长期(20年)的可靠性，而不需要无限的测试时间和测试资源。该项目还将推进工业控制工程领域的知识，展示新的工业系统可以通过创新的控制接口与现有控制系统集成，而不需要对现有控制系统进行返工。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.