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International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 32 (2007) 4800 4810 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhydene

Production of hydrogen and carbon by solar thermal methane splitting. IV. Preliminary simulation of a conned tornado ow conguration by computational uid dynamics
A. Kogan a,b, , M. Israeli c , E. Alcobi d
a Department of Aerospace Engineering, Technion-IIT, Israel b Solar Research Facilities Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel c Department of Computer Science, Technion-IIT, Israel d Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion-IIT, Israel

Received 9 January 2006; received in revised form 21 June 2007; accepted 11 August 2007

Abstract The conned tornado ow conguration has been developed at the Solar Research Facilities Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, as a means for protection of the window of a solar reactor from contact with incandescent solid particles in gas suspension in the reactor cavity. The results of a computational uid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a tornado ow conned in a simplied reaction chamber are compared in this paper with information about such a ow obtained by gas dynamics experimentation. All the information obtained by experiment was corroborated by CFD. Moreover, the CFD simulation brought to view some important unexpected features of the conned tornado ow, which are discussed in detail. 2007 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hydrogen production; Thermal methane splitting; Conned tornado ow

1. Introduction In the development of a solar reactor based on direct gas heating by seeding the volume of the reaction chamber with carbon powder, we were guided by our previous experience with ow of solidgas suspensions, by theoretical and experimental information on prevention of uid ow detachment and by intuition. In this way we succeeded to conceive the tornado ow conguration, which enables protection of the reactor window surface from contact with incandescent solid particles suspended in the ow [1]. The characteristics of the tornado ow conguration were observed in the course of laboratory experiments performed at room temperature and at elevated temperatures. On these occasions we noted the existence of a secondary ow effect by
Corresponding author at: Solar Research Facilities Unit, Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Israel. Tel.: +972 8 934 3782; fax: +972 8 934 4117. E-mail address: tamart@wisemail.weizmann.ac.il (A. Kogan).

which small amounts of oating solid particles are carried toward the reactor window. Some intuitive solutions were tried to counteract the suspected cause of the stray particles migration, with various degrees of success [2,3]. At this point we came to the decision to engage in a detailed computational uid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the tornado ow pattern in the solar reactor under development at our laboratory. We solicited the cooperation of Prof. Moshe Israeli from the Department of Computer Sciences, Technion-IIT in this work. The present report describes results of a preliminary CFD simulation of a tornado ow performed in a reaction chamber of a simplied geometry. The purpose of this preliminary exercise was to get acquainted with the capabilities of the FLUENT CFD code currently in use at the Technion. At this stage we were interested in particular to learn whether there exists at least a qualitative agreement between certain results of practical signicance that were arrived at by CFD and the corresponding phenomena observed during our experiments. All the information gained by experiment were conrmed by CFD

0360-3199/$ - see front matter 2007 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2007.08.016

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simulation. Moreover, some important unexpected features of the conned tornado ow became evident by CFD simulation. These features are discussed below. 2. An abbreviated description of the tornado ow pattern A detailed description of the tornado ow pattern, which enables effective screening of the reactor window from incandescent solid particles, may be found elsewhere [1]. The following brief explanation of the phenomenon is given here for ease of reference. When a uid ows along a solid stationary boundary, its motion is retarded within a thin boundary layer by friction. The retarded uid boundary layer may thicken progressively in the direction of ow and ultimately it may detach from the solid boundary and mix with the main ow. Boundary layer detachment can be averted if care is taken to maintain a uniformly decreasing pressure in the direction of ow. The accelerated main ow then entrains the uid in the boundary layer strongly enough to counteract the ow retardation caused by friction with the stationary boundary. Turning to our particular application, the axisymmetric chamber of the solar reactor illustrated in Fig. 1 is provided with a transparent window located at one end of the chamber, transversally to the longitudinal axis. The main gas ow F1 is introduced into the chamber in a manner whirling around the axis, while the reaction products are withdrawn at the opposite end of the chamber through a narrow central tube oriented along the longitudinal axis. The gas ow inside the chamber then approximates a free vortex ow, characterized by a drop of pressure from the periphery of the chamber to its axis. A secondary ow F2 of protecting gas introduced at the periphery of the window is directed toward the window central area. It is accelerated by the negative pressure gradient generated by the free vortex ow. The secondary gas boundary layer ow at the window surface is thereby stabilized and it remains attached to the surface all the way to the center of the window. The radially converging streamlines then turn into the axial direction, forming a typical tornado-like funnel along the reactor axis. Synergy between the free vortex ow of the main gas and the boundary layer ow of the secondary gas is here exploited in order to protect effectively the reactor window. The synergy is expressed by the fact that the secondary ow, which is desired to form a stable, continuous and non-separated protective layer on the window surface, is not disturbed by the whirling main stream. It is rather stabilized by it. Consequently, the secondary ow does not need to be injected with high velocity or with a great ow rate in order to adhere to the surface to be protected, because it uses the energy of the whirling mainstream against which protection is sought. The tornado effect has been demonstrated in a series of simulation tests at room temperature with the reactor model shown in Fig. 1. The main gas stream was own from an annular plenum chamber through a narrow annular gap toward the upper part of the reaction chamber. An impeller-like ring was implanted in the annular gap. The main gas stream acquired an angular

Fig. 1. Cross-section of reactor M2a.

momentum during its passage through slanted grooves in the impeller ring and it entered the reactor cavity in a whirling motion. The secondary gas stream was own radially from a second annular plenum chamber through a second narrow annular gap toward the periphery of the inner surface of the window. Both streams consisted of nitrogen gas. The secondary stream was made visible by charging it with smoke, while the gas in the mainstream was left in its natural transparent condition. In order to enable visual inspection of a cross-section of the ow inside the reaction chamber, a laser beam directed toward the reactor window was diffracted by passage through a transverse cylindrical glass rod. The monochromatic laser beam emerged from the glass rod as a planar sheet of light that illuminated a cross-section of ow inside the reaction chamber. The four tornado conguration tests illustrated in Fig. 2 were performed with a secondary smoke-charged gas maintained at a constant ow rate of 1 L/min. With a whirling main gas stream at a ow rate of 3 L/min (Fig. 2a), the secondary ow separated from the window surface immediately upon its entry into the reaction chamber. When the whirling main stream was introduced into the reaction chamber at successively higher ow rates (Fig. 2bd), the secondary stream became progressively stabilized as a thin boundary layer. For a main gas ow rate of 20 L/min, the secondary gas moved at high speed in the thin boundary layer near the window surface. It covered the entire window surface area and it left nally the reaction chamber through a narrow axially oriented funnel. 3. Degeneration of the tornado ow conguration when F1 is increased beyond a certain transition value By increasing the ow rate F1 of the main gas stream without changing the other test parameters, the test Ekman

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Fig. 2. Consecutive stages in the evolution of a tornado ow pattern in a reaction chamber. (a) Main ow 0 L/M; (b) Tangential Main ow 5 L/M; (c) Tangential Main ow 10 L/M; (d) Tangential Main ow 2 L/M.

number [4] (1) L2 is diminished. Is there a limit to the permissible increase of F1 , beyond which the tornado ow pattern will break down? In order to answer this question we performed a prolongated smoke visualization tornado ow conguration test at room temperature similar to the test described above. The reactor illustrated in Fig. 3 served us in this test. The streams F1 and F2 consisted likewise of nitrogen. The smoke-charged stream F2 was maintained at a low constant value throughout the test duration, F2 = 2 L/min. The mainstream, F1 , was varied over a wide range. At low F1 ow rates the ow pattern in the reaction chamber resembled that of a regular tornado ow pattern. By increasing F1 a point of transition was reached, when the ow pattern became unstable, ipping at random between the regular tornado ow pattern and a degenerate pattern, as illustrated in Fig. 4. When F1 was increased beyond the transition point, the ow pattern in the reaction chamber stabilized in the diffuse ow conguration, illustrated in Fig. 5, which suggests a transition or a turbulent ow pattern.
Fig. 3. Cross-section of reactor D1 .

E=

4. Exploratory tornado ow conguration tests with powder seeding into the reaction chamber. The existence of a weak torroidal ow perturbation was postulated in order to explain a slight powder deposition on the window surface Some exploratory tornado ow conguration tests with powder seeding were performed at room temperature in order to

gain experimental information about the paths followed by solid particles entrained by the gas ow. During these tests neither one of the two gas streams entering the reaction chamber were stained by smoke, but the main gas stream was charged with a small amount of carbon black (CB) powder before its entry into the reactor [3].

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Fig. 4. Smoke ow visualization of an unstable tornado ow conguration.

Fig. 5. Smoke ow visualization of a degenerated tornado ow conguration.

Fig. 6 is a picture of the reactor window taken at the end of one such test. It shows two concentric rings of powder sediment. The outside diameter of the diffuse outer ring equals the diameter of the circle along which the powder is admitted into the reactor cavity (6 cm). The more concentrated inner powder ring is conned between two concentric circles with diameters of about 2.5 and 0.5 cm, respectively. The test was repeated with the inner surface of the window wetted by a thin layer of lubrication oil. At the end of the test, a narrow, high-density powder ring was observed at the periphery of the window and a circular spot of CB of about 0.3 cm in diameter was spread around the window center, with vestiges of streak lines connecting the outer ring to the central spot (Fig. 7). By the time the picture shown in Fig. 7 was taken, about 30 min after the end of the test, the central spot of CB-stained oil spread over the area of a circle about 1.3 cm in diameter. Figs. 6 and 7 suggest a ow of CB particles entrained by an upwelling stream of gas along the periphery of the reactor cavity. Upon reaching the top of the cavity, the gas stream turned apparently abruptly from the axial into the radial direction,

shedding CB particles onto the window surface by centrifugal force. Solid particles coming into close proximity to the window surface may also have been attracted to it by electrostatic force. Some of the particles formed the outer black ring, while most of them were swept by the accelerated gas stream along the lubricated window surface toward the center of the window. The following mechanism was suggested as a plausible explanation of the observed powder ow behavior. The ascending gas current along the reactor cavity wall is part of a weak ow perturbation generated by friction between the energetic gas stream in the tornado funnel and the gas surrounding it. The fast axial ow of gas in the tornado funnel entrains by friction the relatively quiescent gas around it. Fig. 8 is an intuitive picture of the streamlines in the perturbed quiescent region. These are helical streamlines wrapped around torroidal surfaces. This ow perturbation is, of course, a very weak effect that could be neglected, were it not for the presence of the very ne powder particles that may be entrained by the postulated torroidal ow toward the reactor window. At close proximity to the entraining jet, solid particles suspended in the perturbed gas are expected to move downwards, concurrent with the entraining funnel jet.

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reactor illustrated in Fig. 1, which was heated by concentrated solar radiation up to 1320 C. The main gas stream consisted of methane and the secondary stream was helium. With increasing test temperature, the slight powder deposition on the window surface diminished. No powder deposition could be discerned at all when the reactor inner wall temperature came close to 1000 C [2]. We note that by increasing the temperature from ambient to above 1000 C the gas kinematic viscosity goes up by an order of magnitude, with a corresponding increase in Ekman number. It appears reasonable to assume that during the initial low temperature tests in this test series the ow in the reaction chamber was turbulent and with increasing test temperature the Ekman number increased beyond the critical value and the ow in the reaction chamber became laminar. 6. Some results of a CFD simulation of a tornado ow conguration maintained in a reaction chamber of a simplied geometry The postulation of the existence of a weak torroidal ow perturbation in order to explain the observed slight powder deposition on the window surface during the room temperature tests was based on scanty experimental evidence. During the above mentioned exploratory tornado ow conguration tests with powder seeding we were unable to follow the paths of single particles. By observation of the powder deposition pattern in Figs. 6 and 7, one can conclude with condence that some powder particles in gas suspension were entrained toward the window surface, that some of them settled on the surface and that some others were entrained by the surface boundary layer ow within a stretch between the center of the window and its periphery. In order to obtain a more detailed description of the tornado ow conguration, we decided to back up our experimental work by CFD simulation. In the preliminary CFD simulation study described below, the simplied cylinderfrustum geometry illustrated in Fig. 9 was chosen for the outline of the reaction chamber. The main gas is introduced into the reactor cavity through the annular entrance of width w1 as an axi-symmetric whirling stream at a owrate F1 . The secondary gas stream F2 is introduced into the cavity radially through the annular entrance of width w2 . Both streams are simulated by air. The air viscosity and density are functions of temperature. The kinematic viscosity of air increases signicantly with temperature (Fig. 10). Figs. 1113 illustrate contours of stream function and of swirl velocity of air ow in the reactor cavity of Fig. 9, as calculated by FLUENT CFD simulation code for a case of high viscosity, corresponding to T = 1200 C. The stream function contours shown in Fig. 11 were attained for a tornado ow conguration established by introducing a main stream of air tangentially into the reaction chamber at a owrate F1 = 10 L/min through the main annular entrance of width w1 = 2 mm and a secondary stream of air F2 = 0.5 L/min through the secondary annular entrance of width w2 = 0.2 mm, the air leaving the reaction

Fig. 6. Reactor window stained by powder deposition after a 10-min seeding tornado ow test.

Fig. 7. CB deposit on reactor window at the end of a test similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 6, when the window surface was wetted by lubrication oil, before start of test.

Upon approaching the reactor cavity bottom, they diverge toward the periphery, turning in sequence upwards toward the reactor window, then inwards along the window. 5. Cessation of powder deposition on reactor window at elevated temperatures The above described room temperature tests with powder seeding were followed by a series of tests with the unseeded

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Fig. 8. Schematic representation of torroidal ow perturbation induced by friction between the gas moving at high speed in the tornado funnel and the surrounding gas.

chamber through the exit section at the bottom of the chamber. These contours were attained at time 1075 s after start of ow. Fig. 12 is an enlarged picture of the air entry region in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 shows contours of swirl velocity (m/s) of the ow. At short distance from the entrance annuli the stream divides into two distinct streams. The seven streamlines marked by A in Fig. 11 ow roughly radially, toward the reactor axis of symmetry, then they make sharp turns of almost 90 , forming a funnel-like jet of air. Yet the major part of the entering air stream represented by the 41 streamlines marked by B proceed toward the axis of symmetry along a distance less than a third of the cylinder radius before making a sharp U-turn toward the wall of the cylinder. A concentrated annular vortex E located just below air entrance w1 is powered by friction with the sharply curved stream. After completion of the U-turn, the 34 outer streamlines marked by C ow down the cylinder and frustum walls toward the chamber exit section. The remaining 7 inner streamlines marked by D diverge one by one from the bulk of 34 streamlines, trying to ascend toward the top of the chamber. But they do not quite make it all the way to the top. The rst of this set of streamlines reaches up to a distance G from the top. They all turn downwards toward the exit section after reaching their maxima. An oblong widespread annular vortex marked F is formed in the fold of this streamline and is powered by friction with it.

Fig. 14 illustrates stream function contours for a tornado air ow conguration in the simplied reactor of Fig. 9 for an intermediate air temperature. It exhibits all the features of Fig. 11. We notice that the shortest distance G reached by an upwelling streamline in Fig. 14 is less than half the value of G in Fig. 11. Figs. 1517 illustrate stream function and swirl velocity contours for a tornado air ow conguration in the same reactor when the air is at room temperature. They suggest the existence of a transition or turbulent ow. It is interesting to notice the row of annular vortices generated by friction with the abundant stream of air owing down along the cylindrical boundary of the reaction chamber. Most of these peripheral streamlines turn successively along the frustum boundary layer upwards, some of them reaching the top of the chamber, where they join the attached boundary layer ow. 7. Interpretation of the CFD simulation results in light of the facts established by experiment The ability to prevent separation of the boundary layer ow from the reactor window surface by maintaining a tornado ow conguration in the reaction chamber is corroborated by the CFD simulation. The extreme set of stream function lines marked by A in Fig. 11, e.g., do not detach from the window surface, in accord with our experimental evidence.

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Fig. 9. The cylinderfrustum geometry of a simplied combustion chamber.

The existence of a minimum gas kinematic viscosity (or temperature) for a given reactor geometry and ow parameters, beyond which the tornado ow pattern breaks down is also predicted by the CFD simulation, as may be seen by comparing the ow patterns in Figs. 10 and 15. The simulated low viscosity ow illustrated in Fig. 15 exhibits a set of nine streamlines marked by D which follow a path reminiscent of the ow path of the corresponding set of streamlines D in the high viscosity ow diagram of Fig. 11. They start their journey inside the reaction chamber by owing down along the cylindrical boundary of the chamber as part of the set of streamlines B. Upon reaching the vicinity of frustum boundary at the bottom of the chamber, they diverge one by one from the mainstream, turning upwards, toward the reactor window. The subset of four streamlines marked by D in Fig. 15 reach a maximum before touching the window surface. They make a nal turn downwards to the exit port. Yet unlike in the case of the high viscosity ow of Fig. 11, the remaining set of ve streamlines marked by D in Fig. 15 reach all the way to the window surface, where they join the set of streamlines A along that surface. The gas owing along streamlines in subset D in Fig. 15 is capable of entraining powder particles and of shedding them on that surface. The experimental observation of formation of a slight deposit of solid particles on the reactor window when a powder suspension in a low viscosity uid is owing inside the reaction chamber in a tornado ow conguration (a low Ekman number ow) and the absence of formation of such a powder deposit during a similar ow of a powder suspension in a high viscosity gas (a high Ekman number ow) seems thus to be in accord with results obtained by CFD simulation.

Fig. 10. Kinematic viscosity of air vs. temperature.

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Fig. 11. Contours of stream function (kg/s) (time = 1.0750e + 03) FLUENT 6.2 (axi, swirl, segregated, lam, unsteady). Air ow at 1200 C.

Fig. 12. An enlarged picture of the region of air entry in Fig. 11.

Fig. 13. Contours of swirl velocity (m/s) (time = 1.0750e + 03) FLUENT 6.2 (axi, swirl, segregated, lam, unsteady).

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Fig. 14. Contours of stream function (kg/s) (time = 2.0000e + 03) FLUENT 6.2 (axi, swirl, segregated, lam, unsteady). Air ow at 600 C.

Fig. 15. Contours of stream function (kg/s) (time = 1.0000e + 03) FLUENT 6.2 (axi, swirl, segregated, lam, unsteady). Air ow at room temperature.

Fig. 16. An enlarged picture of the region of air entry in Fig. 15.

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Fig. 17. Contours of swirl velocity (m/s) (time = 1.0000e + 03) FLUENT 6.2 (axi, swirl, segregated, lam, unsteady).

8. Revision of the postulation of a torroidal ow perturbation in view of the contours of tornado ow stream function obtained by CFD simulation In a free vortex ow, the tangential velocity u and the pressure p are given by u = c1 /r and p = p0 c2 /r 2 , (3) (2)

where r is the distance from the vortex axis of symmetry, p0 is the total pressure, c1 is a constant and c2 is a positive constant. A free vortex can persist in steady state when the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of uid is counter-balanced by the centripetal force caused by the increase of pressure with the distance r. When a vortex ow takes place within a nite volume conned by stationary solid boundaries, the uid friction within the boundary layer may perturb considerably the vortex ow pattern. By way of example, the centrifugal force acting on the uid in vortex ow is sharply reduced within the boundary layer along a plane boundary normal to the axis of rotation, such as the surface of the reactor window. The centripetal force within the boundary layer is then left unbalanced and the uid on the periphery of that boundary is accelerated toward the axis of rotation. This is the effect that we have exploited in order to obtain a natural gas dynamic windscreen to protect the reactor window from contact with solid particles oating in the gas. Upon approaching the axis of rotation, the converging streamlines turn sharply into the axial direction, forming a typical tornado funnel. We have assumed intuitively that friction between the fast funnel jet and the surrounding relatively quiescent uid generates a torroidal ow perturbation as shown in Fig. 8, which could be the agent by which some powder particles are carried toward the window surface and are deposited on it.

The contours of streamlines in Fig. 11 obtained by CFD simulation differ considerably from those sketched in Fig. 8. They do not corroborate the postulation of the existence of a torroidal ow perturbation in a vortex ow conned by solid stationary walls. After careful examination of the conned vortex ow patterns obtained by CFD simulation, we came to realize that the assumption that the perturbed ow pattern of the conned vortex in the simplied reaction chamber of Fig. 9 is not determined solely by the interaction between the rotating uid and the boundary layer ow adjacent to the chamber ceiling, which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. In fact, the centrifugal force acting on the uid within the boundary layer along the surface of the frustum shaped wall is also sharply reduced and the uid inside this boundary layer is also accelerated toward the chamber exit port by the unbalanced centripetal force. Two natural routes are thus available for delivery of the rotating uid conned within the reaction chamber of Fig. 9 from the two annular entrance ports at the top of the chamber to the exit port at the bottom. The ow patterns in Figs. 11 and 15 that were obtained by CFD simulation indicate that both routes are exploited by nature. The uid stream entering the reaction chamber splits shortly after entry into two unequal streams. A scarce stream A follows the rst route described above, forming the gas dynamic windshield at the chamber ceiling and the tornado funnel, while the abundant stream B takes the second, peripheral route to the chamber exit. The behavior of a slightly viscous swirling ow entering an axisymmetric chamber at a large (outer) radius and exiting at a smaller (inner) radius near the axis can be interpreted with the help of the theory of rotating ows at very small Ekman numbers, see [4]. In such ows, the radial ow of the uid is inhibited by the strong Coriolis force generated by the vortex which is further amplied as the swirling ow approaches the axis conserving its angular momentum. This effect is observed also in industrial cyclones and rotation valves where a huge

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pressure difference must be supplied to drive the ow as described. In a cylinder symmetrical with respect to its center plane, the vortex generates two horizontal boundary layers, called Ekman Layers (E.L.). A radial mass ux can be sustained in these thin layers. It is proportional to the difference in angular velocity between the swirling interior and the horizontal stationary top and bottom plates, and also to the square root of the Ekman number. In such a conguration, the top and bottom radial ux must be exactly the same. In a non-symmetric chamber like the cylinderfrustum combination, the radial mass ux in the frustum (inclined) E.L. is allowed to be larger (as the Ekman number depends on the slope). However, if too much ux is directed to the bottom initially, an appropriate fraction of this ux must return to the top (horizontal) plate E.L. before it can proceed to the axis (as can be seen for example in Figs. 11 and 15). It is interesting to observe that both in the case of the laminar ow (Fig. 11) and of the turbulent (or transition) ow (Fig. 15) some of the streamlines that started on the second route separate at some point from their original mainstream B, trying to ascend along isobars toward the chamber ceiling. Yet almost all of these stray streamlines make a U-turn before reaching the ceiling and they rejoin their original mainstream B. These streamlines will not contaminate the reactor window with any solid particles that they may carry in suspension. Only in the case of transition or turbulent ow (Fig. 15), a part of the stray streamlines does succeed to reach the chamber ceiling. They join the set of streamlines A that followed the rst route. These particular streamlines carry the danger of deposition of entrained powder on the surface of the reactor window. 9. Conclusion The above described comparison of certain characteristics of a conned tornado ow, that were observed previously during laboratory tests, with corresponding characteristics of such ows obtained by CFD simulation is of a preliminary nature. For the sake of simplicity, a rudimentary geometry was chosen for the outline of the reaction chamber used in the CFD calculation. This geometry was different from the geometries of

the reaction chamber models used in the laboratory tests. The comparison of our previous experimental results with predictions derived from the described CFD work is therefore only of a qualitative nature. Yet despite this limitation, we were able to identify by CFD simulation certain basic characteristics of the conned tornado ow that were observed in the laboratory. Moreover, the CFD simulation helped us to clarify some intricate features of the ow under study that were previously obscure. CFD simulation can thus certainly become an important auxiliary tool in the development of an effective solar reactor that exploits the conned tornado ow conguration. To this end we will have to choose a reaction chamber model with a standard geometry. Some of CFD simulation and laboratory test work will be performed with the standard reaction chamber model under strict similarity conditions. A quantitative comparison will then be made between the CFD simulation predictions and the test results. If small systematic discrepancies will be found between the two results, the data will be reconciled by the introduction of calibration factors. CFD simulation will then become an important aid in our R&D work. Acknowledgments This study was supported by the Heineman Foundation for Research, Education, Charitable and Scientic Purposes and the Rose Family Foundation, NY, USA. The authors gratefully acknowledge the steadfast support of these foundations. References
[1] Kogan A, Kogan M. The tornado ow congurationan effective method for screening of a solar reactor window. J Solar Energy Eng 2002;124:206 14. [2] Kogan M, Kogan A. Production of hydrogen and carbon by solar thermal methane splitting. I. The unseeded reactor. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2003;28:118798. [3] Kogan A, Kogan M, Barak S. Production of hydrogen and carbon by solar thermal methane splitting. II. Room temperature simulation tests of seeded solar reactor. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2003;29:122736. [4] Greenspan HP. Theory of rotating uids. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1968 p. 3.