Odeillo solar furnace
| Four solaire d'Odeillo | |
The solar furnace at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France can reach temperatures up to 3,500 °C (6,330 °F)
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| Coordinates | 42°29′38″N 2°01′45″E / 42.4939°N 2.0292°ECoordinates: 42°29′38″N 2°01′45″E / 42.4939°N 2.0292°E |
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| Location | Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via |
| Width | 48 metres (157 ft) |
| Height | 54 metres (177 ft) |
| Beginning date | 1962 |
| Completion date | 1968 |
| Opening date | 1970 |
The Odeillo solar furnace is the world's largest solar furnace. It is situated in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, in south of France. It is 54 metres (177 ft) high and 48 metres (157 ft) wide, and includes 63 heliostats. It was built between 1962 and 1968, and started operating in 1970, and has a power of one megawatt.
It serves as a science research site studying materials at very high temperatures.
It is situated in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, region of Languedoc-Roussillon, in south of France. The site was chosen because:
The solar power plant of Themis and the Mont-Louis Solar Furnace are situated nearby.
The principle used is the concentration of rays by reflecting mirrors (9,600 of them). The solar rays are picked up by a first set of steerable mirrors located on the slope, and then sent to a second series of mirrors (the « concentrators »), placed in a parabola. Hence they converge towards a circular target on top of a central tower; this target was only 40 cm in diameter. That is equivalent to concentrate the energy of "10,000 suns."
The research areas are also extended to the aviation and aerospace industries. Experiments can be there in conditions of high chemical purity. The high temperature materials division use the furnace to evaluate radome survival during MIRV warhead earth re-entry along with investigating other material properties under the "high energy thermal radiation environment" frequently produced by "nuclear devices".
French chemist Felix Trombe and his team have achieved in Meudon in 1946 first experience using a DCA mirror to show the ability to reach high temperatures very quickly and in a very pure environment with light the highly concentrated sunlight. The aim was to melt the ore and extract highly pure materials for making new and improved refractories.
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