Concentrated Solar for Infrastructure and Fuel

Looking for low-carbon industrial-scale replacements to our CO2 emitting ways.

Goals

concrete is 2nd most consumed material, after water
- 3t / human / year. Developping countries consume most.
cement production = 8% global CO2 emissions
- 1kg cement = 1kg CO2
concrete sand reserves are depleted
- and desert sand is not a suitable replacement being too uniform

1.1 x 1.1m @ CHF750
1.450 x 1.115m @ EUR100
- via email: delivered in a roll; should top at 700-800C though
flatscreen TVs larger than 60 inches contain a Fresnel lens of at least close to 1m2

(2014) Properties of Desert Sand and CMAS Glass (NASA)
- Bulk density of CMAS glass was 2.69 g/cc
- Young’s modulus 92 GPa
- Shear modulus 36 GPa
- Poisson’s ratio 0.28
- showed weight loss of approx. 35 percent due to decomposition of CaCO3 and CaSO4.2H2O when heated to 1400 C
stronger than concrete in compression, even iron
but does reject a third in weight as NOx & SOx
Emissions to produce 1t of industrial glass
- Consommation de matières premières naturelles: 920 kg
- Consommation de matières premières de synthèse: 256 kg
- Consommation de matières totales : 1176 kg
- Consommation de calcin: 0 kg
- Consommation énergétique: 1200 kWh
- Consommation en équivalent fuel: 105 kg
- Emissions de CO2 issues des matières premières: 174 kg
- Emissions de CO2 issues du fuel: 336 kg
- Emissions de CO2 total: 510 kg
- Emissions de poussières: 0,3 kg
- Emissions de SOx: 4,0 kg
- Emissions de NOx: 2,0 kg
  - (510*100)/(1176+105) = 39.8% of materials + fuel is emited as CO2
  - (174*100)/1176 = 14.8% of materials emited as CO2
(1954) Thermal decomposition of calcium sulfate
- CaO, CO2, SO2, S2, H2S, CaS, H2O
=> potentially vitrifying desert sand emits 15-35% of its mass as CO2
- 65-85% less than concrete
- however NOx SOx outgassing needs handling

thin printable powder Nylon (PA12) Powder, Sintratec
- Melt Point 176 C, 348.8F
- Stable Temp (Max) 130C, 266F
- Bending Stress (Max) 43.1 MPa
- Tensile Stress (Max) 47.8 MPa
- Tensile Modulus (Max) 1750 MPa
- Particle Size 0.06mm (60 micron)
- Volume (1kg) 2L, 2000cm^3, 122in^3
Fast, high volume 3D printing tech
(2018) Sandhelden: tapping into the bathroom design market with 3D sand printing
manual cement block making machine >800EUR
automated concrete blocks making machine >10kUSD
(2017) The Cronus: Mutli-Head 3D Printing

(2011) Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production Research (STCH): Thermochemical Cycle Selection and Investment Priority
energy.gov Hydrogen Production: Thermochemical Water Splitting
- long-term technology pathway, with potentially low or no greenhouse gas emissions
- Typically direct cycles are less complex with fewer steps, but they require higher operating temperatures compared with the more complicated hybrid cycles.
Low CO2 Ammonia with electrochemistry, water splitting
- (2020) Electrification of Ammonia Synthesis
  - optimizing processes
- (2020) Building a sustainable industrial and energy infrastructure
  - thyssenkrupp doing large scale electrolysis
- (2020) GREEN AMMONIA AT OIL & GAS SCALE