Committee Chair

Bhosale, Rahul R.

Committee Member

Harris, Bradley; Mahtabi, Mohammad

Department

Dept. of Civil and Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The solar thermochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels represents a promising pathway for mitigating anthropogenic CO₂ emissions while enabling the production of carbon neutral energy carriers. This study investigates the use of cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) as a redox-active metal oxide for two step solar thermochemical CO₂ splitting to produce carbon monoxide, a key component of syngas. Analysis showed that increasing εgg from 0.0 to 0.95, consistently strengthened heat recovery in the inert‑gas and oxygen cooling stages, which in turn sharply reduced the auxiliary heating loads for both Ar and CO₂. These reductions propagated through the system, lowering the total thermochemical energy requirement and the solar input needed to drive the cycle. At high recuperation levels (εgg ≥ 0.9), the typical penalty associated with higher inert‑gas flow rates was fully reversed, with larger flow rates requiring less solar energy than smaller ones. As a result, solar‑to‑fuel efficiency rose substantially with increasing εgg, reaching its highest values at elevated inert‑gas flow rates under strong recuperation. Overall, the findings demonstrate that highly effective gas‑to‑gas heat recuperation is the dominant lever for improving cycle performance, reducing solar energy demand, and shifting the optimal operating point toward higher inert‑gas throughput.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the individuals and institutions whose support made this work possible. A huge thanks to my husband, O’Brian, who was my source of strength and motivation, especially on the hard days. Thank you for your constant encouragement and support. Special thanks to my extended family who offered their time, love and care during this busy season. Completing this thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and leadership of my advisor, Dr. Rahul Bhosale. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to broaden my skill and knowledge in the invaluable field of renewable energy.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2026

Subject

Energy consumption; Solar thermal energy; Thermochemistry

Keyword

solar thermochemical, cobalt-ferrite; CO2 Splitting; solar-to-fuel efficiency; gas-to-gas heat recovery

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xv; 68 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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