The production of cement accounts for nearly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. This represents a larger share of emissions than those generated by the aviation industry. To create cement, fossil fuel is combusted to produce high-temperature heat to break down calcium carbonate into calcium oxide. The goal of the Solar Thermal Mixed Media Enhancement for the Decarbonization of Clinker Production (Solar MEAD) project is to replace the fossil fuel heat source with renewably generated heat produced with concentrating solar power.
Team Members: Shaker Alaquel, Brantley Mills, Javier Martell, Kristina Xi, Evan Bush, Andrea Ambrosini, Chris Bowen, Carlos Quiroz-Arita
Laying asphalt requires heating the material to 150 °C to make it malleable for rolling into a road surface. This heat is typically delivered to the asphalt mix through the combustion of diesel or propane. To make the process more renewable, C&E Concrete is interested in heating the asphalt with heat gathered from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind. A packed bed storage system will be designed to gather heat from the intermittent renewable sources to deliver to the asphalt heating process.
Team Members: Luke McLaughlin, Henk Laubscher, Taylor Johnson