(418bq) Low Cost High Temperature UV-Fused Silica Heated Spectroscopic Cell for Solar Applications

A high temperature, low-cost spectroscopic cell that can operate at moderate pressures is considered for solar applications, in particular to acquire online chemical composition in Solar Receivers that include corrosive media, for instance SO₃, SO₂, O₂ and H₂O (SOL2HY2). The obtainment of chemical composition is a challenge at high temperatures, which is a common problem for solar processes. Of further complication is the corrosive nature of species within certain process conditions, in this case, corrosive sulphuric acid and sulphur trioxide vapours. To acquire accurate information regarding the yield of a solar receiver reactor that decomposes SO₃ into SO₂ and O₂, a one-phase gas flow cell has been designed, material chemical resistance aspects are discussed and thermal transfer properties of transient nature are examined. The cell is suitable for similar process conditions for different gaseous media. Calculations using the Beer-Lambert-Bouguer are discussed and experimental results are compared. The low cost of the setup has been achieved using standard stock materials, a relatively simple in-house design and a robust sealing strategy has been devised for temperatures up to 330°C and pressures up to 5 atm using UV-fused silica windows 2mm diameter and a combination of perfluorinated sealing materials and graphite.