DAWN of a new solar fuel production plant
S. Himmelstein | September 08, 2022
The world’s first industrial plant to produce synthetic fuels using solar heat is now under construction in Jülich, Germany, by Synhelion, a spin-off of ETH Zurich.
Using only solar heat from a 20-m-high solar tower and a heliostat field with a mirror surface of 1,500 m2, the DAWN facility will produce several thousand liters of solar kerosene and gasoline per year. Based on a nominal solar input power of 600 kW, solar radiation is converted into high-temperature process heat of more than 1,000° C, then drives the thermochemical reaction to produce solar fuels. The reactor will be fed methane and carbon dioxide of biowaste originating from a local paper mill, as well as water. Cost-efficient operation 24 hours per day by 2023 will be enabled by the installation of a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor and a thermal energy store inside the tower.
SWISS will be the first airline to fly on Synhelion’s solar kerosene. Future planned plants will exceed the size of DAWN and offer a significantly higher production capacity.