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Dinsdag 5 maart 2013
Prof.dr.ir. M.C.M. van de Sanden (FOM DIFFER, en Department of Applied Physics TU/e)
Energy research at the FOM institute DIFFER
The FOM Institute DIFFER carries out a national programme on fundamental energy research traditionally focussed on fusion and recently broadened to include research and development of so-called Solar Fuels, a means to store sustainable energy in the form of chemical fuels. The institute works in close partnership with academia and industry. A brief introduction on this change of mission of DIFFER will be given.
A brief overview will be presented on the fusion research of DIFFER which focuses on “Burn control of burning fusion plasmas” and “Plasma-surface interaction studies”, the latter to determine solutions for advanced power exhaust systems for the extreme conditions in the future ITER tokamak reactor build in the south of France.
The second topic deals with a new research direction presently being developed at DIFFER. Sustainable energy generation by means of wind or from solar radiation through photovoltaic conversion or concentrated solar power[1], will be a significant part of the energy mix in 2025. The intermittency (day/night cycle) as well as the regional variation of these energy sources, however, requires a means to store and transport energy on a large scale.
I will address the research FOM-DIFFER will initiate on the storage of sustainable energy in fuels. These so-called solar fuels, e.g. hydrocarbons and alcohols, by means of artificial photosynthesis using CO2 and H2O as raw materials and sustainable energy by wind or sun, will enable a CO2 neutral power generation infrastructure, which is close to the present infrastructure based on fossil fuels. Basically, the challenge will be to achieve power efficient dissociation of CO2 or H2O or both, after which traditional chemical conversion (Fisher-Tropsch, Sabatier, etc.) towards fuels can take place.
Most of the research efforts globally are directed at the splitting of water in hydrogen and oxygen, as no efficient (photo-)catalytic or traditional chemical alternative for CO2 is yet available. A promising route could be the power efficient dissociation or activation of CO2 gas streams by means of plasma, possible enhanced with plasma assisted catalysis. Taking the advantage of non-equilibrium plasma conditions to reach optimal energy efficiency the FOM institute DIFFER has started part of its solar fuels program focusing on CO2 fed microwave plasmas. The plasma is generated in a low loss microwave cavity with microwave powers up to 10 kW using a supersonic expansion to quench the plasma and prevent vibrational-translational relaxation losses. Recent results from a collaboration with IPF Stuttgart will be presented.
[1] As an example, in Germany 27GWp of PV are deployed (30% of peak demand) serving below 3% of the annual energy needs.
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