High-power high-brightness solar laser approach for renewable Mg recovery from MgO

Joana Almeida; Dawei Liang

doi:10.1117/12.2063442

22 August 2014 High-power high-brightness solar laser approach for renewable Mg recovery from MgO

Joana Almeida, Dawei Liang

Proceedings Volume 9286, Second International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics; 92861P (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2063442
Event: Second International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics, 2014, Aveiro, Portugal

Abstract

Hydrogen and heat energy from the reaction of magnesium with water can be used for engines and fuel cells. However, at least 4000 K is necessary for magnesium oxide reduction. Ultra high brightness solar-pumped lasers become essential to make this renewable process technology efficient and economically competitive. 2.3 mg/kJ solar laser - induced magnesium production efficiency has been achieved by T. Yabe et al., in 2012, by focusing a 53 W solar laser beam on a mixture of MgO with Si as reducing agent. This result is however far from the 12.1 mg/kJ attained with 2 kW/mm2 CO2 laser beam. To improve substantially the solar laser - induced Mg production efficiency, a simple high-power, high brightness Nd:YAG solar laser pumping approach is proposed. The solar radiation is both collected and concentrated by four Fresnel lenses, and redirected towards a Nd:YAG laser head by four plane folding mirrors. A fused-silica secondary concentrator is used to compress the highly concentrated solar radiation to a laser rod. Optimum pumping conditions and laser resonator parameters are found through ZEMAX© and LASCAD© numerical analysis. High-record solar laser beam brightness figure of merit - defined as the ratio between laser power and the product of M_x ²and M_y ² - of 10.5 W is numerically achieved, being 5.5 times higher than the previous record and about 1600 times more than that of the most powerful Nd:YAG solar laser. 8340 W/mm² is numerically achieved at its focal region, which can quadruple the magnesium production efficiency with clean energy.

Citation Download Citation

Joana Almeida and Dawei Liang "High-power high-brightness solar laser approach for renewable Mg recovery from MgO", Proc. SPIE 9286, Second International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics, 92861P (22 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2063442

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
7 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Nd:YAG lasers

Magnesium

Mirrors

Solar energy

Fresnel lenses

Optical pumping

Absorption

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years