How to decarbonize energy-intensive industry with solar energy/Como descarbonizar la industria intensiva en energía con energía solar

in #science14 days ago


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To stop depending on fossil fuels, it is not enough to electrify all vehicles; there are industry sectors such as metallurgy or cement manufacturing that require enormous amounts of energy that, to this day, continue to consume fossil fuels and it does not seem very easy to find alternatives.

Para dejar de depender de los combustibles fósiles no es suficiente electrificar todos los vehículos, existen sectores de la industria como la metalurgia o la fabricación de cemento que requieren enormes cantidades de energía que, a día de hoy, siguen consumiendo combustibles fósiles y no parece muy sencillo encontrar alternativas.

Materials such as glass, steel or ceramics are widely used in the construction and manufacturing of a multitude of everyday elements, but all of them require temperatures normally above 1,000°C, which is why these types of industries consume approximately twenty-five percent of global energy consumption.

Materiales como el vidrio, el acero o la cerámica son muy utilizados en la construcción y fabricación de multitud de elementos cotidianos, pero todos ellos necesitan temperaturas normalmente por encima de los 1.000°C, por lo que este tipo de industrias consumen aproximadamente el veinticinco por ciento del consumo global de energía.


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But now a group of scientists from ETH Zurich have developed a proof of concept, which explores the use of solar energy for the operation of energy-intensive industry, by using synthetic quartz to capture solar energy that is capable of generating heat at temperatures above 1,000°C.

Pero ahora un grupo de científicos del ETH Zurich han desarrollado una prueba de concepto, que explora el uso de la energía solar para el funcionamiento de la industria intensiva en energía, mediante la utilización de cuarzo sintético para capturar energía solar que es capaz de generar calor a temperaturas superiores a los 1.000°C.

Using semi-transparent materials such as quartz that are capable of trapping sunlight through the so-called thermal trap effect, they designed a device that consists of a synthetic quartz rod attached to an opaque silicon disk that acts as an energy absorber, exposing the device at an energy flux equivalent to the light of 136 suns, the absorbing plate reached 1,050°C.

Utilizando materiales semitransparentes como el cuarzo que son capaces de atrapar la luz solar a través del llamado efecto trampa térmica, diseñaron un dispositivo que consiste en una varilla de cuarzo sintético unida un disco opaco de silicio que actúa como absorbente de energía, al exponer el dispositivo a un flujo de energía equivalente a la luz de 136 soles la placa absorbente alcanzó los 1.050°C.


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The team of scientists is now exploring other materials such as different fluids and gases, which allow higher temperatures to be reached that allow other processes to be tackled and continue to optimize the thermal capture effect and look for new applications for this technology that allow abandoning the use of fossil fuels in this type of industries.

El equipo de científicos está explorando ahora otros materiales como distintos fluidos y gases, que permitan alcanzar temperaturas más elevadas que permitan abordar otros procesos y siguen optimizando el efecto de captura térmica y buscando nuevas aplicaciones para esta tecnología que permitan abandonar el uso de combustibles fósiles en este tipo de industrias.

Although at the moment it is, as I noted previously, a proof of concept and as always happens with these things, there is still a lot of work to do, but we need solutions of this type if we want to decarbonize these industrial sectors and the Sun is a source of clean and inexhaustible energy.

Aunque por el momento se trata, como apunté anteriormente, de una prueba de concepto y como ocurre siempre con esta cosas, aún queda mucho trabajo por hacer, pero necesitamos soluciones de este tipo si queremos descarbonizar estos sectores industriales y el Sol es una fuente de energía limpia e inagotable.

More information/Más información
https://singularityhub.com/2024/05/17/smelting-steel-with-sunlight-new-solar-trap-tech-could-help-decarbonize-industrial-heat/

https://www.europapress.es/ciencia/laboratorio/noticia-mas-cerca-poder-usar-energia-solar-altos-hornos-20240516133506.html#:~:text=Para%20aumentar%20la%20eficiencia%20de,llamado%20efecto%20de%20trampa%20t%C3%A9rmica.

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You're right it's not enough to electrify cars.... I just watched a video and realized that even the electric charger station is charged with diesel 😂😂😂😂 lovely blog

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