An ablation model for the thermal decomposition of porous zinc oxide layer heated by concentrated solar radiation

Thermal decomposition of porous ZnO under high-flux solar irradiation is considered. The process is well described by a transient ablation model that couples radiation, conduction, and convection heat transfer to an Arrhenius-type kinetic rate law with a pre-exponential factor dependent on the porosity, grain/pore size, and convective removal of the reaction products Zn(g) and O2. Main model parameters are determined by comparing numerical and experimental results.