UIDB/00068/2020
Farah Babar
PhD Programme: Physics Engineering
Thematic Line: Laser Technology
242 - Ed. I
f.babar@campus.fct.unl.pt
Research Areas
PhD project: Pulsed solar-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG lasers for efficient and rapid hydrogen extraction from aqueous ammonia under ambient condition without catalyst
Resume:
Hydrogen (H2) is vital for a renewable society. However, H2 is flammable and inconvenient for transport. Therefore, in situ H2 extraction from aqueous ammonia (NH3) is an effective solution.
Classical methods of extracting hydrogen from ammonia often require complex catalysts. In this Ph.D. program, we propose to build a high-efficiency pulsed solar laser for efficient and rapid hydrogen extraction from aqueous ammonia under ambient condition without catalyst. A dichroic mirror will reflect 350 - 900 nm concentrated solar power, through the central hole of a 1.73 m2 parabolic mirror (already installed in NOVA University campus), to a biconic rotating mirror, by which two laser heads will be sequentially pumped during 200 ms, generating 10 ns laser pulses of several hundred mJ energy, at 50 Hz repetition rate, which will be applied to 8 H2 ammonia reactors by optical fibers. H2 yield of 9.2 g/h can be expected.
