Solar furnace mirror - photo

[DIYSwede]

-Not jumping on your challenge bandwagon, Philip, I'm merely doing this as an armchair design exercise:

Seems like some guys in Missoula, MT (47 deg latitude) made a "forge" which just about fixed to melt lead:

GreenPowerScience made a biggie (44 x 34"?) fresnel lens (with a clever and simple tracker) foundry achieving 2100 deg C
(albeit with only a narrow focal point good enuff to melt small drill rods):

To grow your own casting foundry, I guess you'll have to:
1) Get a good and big enough black clay crucible.
2) Devise some insulating firebrick foundry to keep the heat within, and an opening towards the lens.
3) Check for available sun power at your area (Pics below), and get the appropriate lens area from your desired total power input.
4) Smack a simple suntracker together, and perhaps a slow-rev turntable under the crucible?
5) Wait for a cloud- and windfree day, fire up and iron out the shortcomings from the contraption.



A personal guesstimate would be some 4 kW input (>4 sq m lens where I live, at 60 deg latitude,
so I'd need 4 of the GPS's lenses above and 1356 bucks for them to even get started),
and putting the crucible off-focus a bit, run and track for at least 1 hour for an app 2-3 kg Al melt.

Guess I'll continue with charcoal bricks till my 4 kW electrical oven is finished...


Just my 2 cents
Johan