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Operational performance of the development of a 15kW parabolic trough mid-temperature solar receiver/reactor for hydrogen production

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  • Hong, Hui
  • Liu, Qibin
  • Jin, Hongguang

Abstract

In this paper, we report the operational performance and energy conversion efficiency of a developed 15kW solar chemical receiver/reactor for hydrogen production. A concentrated solar heat of around 200–300°C was utilized to provide process heat to drive methanol steam reforming. A modified 15kW direct-irradiation solar reactor coupled with a linear receiver positioned along the focal line of a one-axis parabolic trough concentrator was used. The experiments were conducted from 200 to 300°C under a mean solar flux of 300–800W/m2 and a reactant feeding rate of 6kg/h. Reactants were continuously fed, and the attained conversion rate of methanol was more than 70% at 700W/m2. The typical solar thermochemical efficiency of solar thermal energy converted into chemical energy was in the 20–28% range. The overall energy efficiency of input solar power conversion into chemical energy reached up to 17% and may be further increased by improving solar field efficiency. Hydrogen production exceeding 80% was achieved. In addition, preliminary economic evaluation was performed, and methods for further improvement were proposed. This paper proves that solar hydrogen production is feasible by combining solar thermal energy with alternative fuel at around 200–300°C, which is much lower than the temperature of other solar thermochemical processes. This may offer an economic approach to solar fuel production and extend the application of mid-temperature solar thermal energy.

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  • Hong, Hui & Liu, Qibin & Jin, Hongguang, 2012. "Operational performance of the development of a 15kW parabolic trough mid-temperature solar receiver/reactor for hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 137-141.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:90:y:2012:i:1:p:137-141
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.04.050
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bai, Zhang & Liu, Qibin & Lei, Jing & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "Investigation on the mid-temperature solar thermochemical power generation system with methanol decomposition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 56-65.
    3. Xiao, Gang & Guo, Kaikai & Luo, Zhongyang & Ni, Mingjiang & Zhang, Yanmei & Wang, Cheng, 2014. "Simulation and experimental study on a spiral solid particle solar receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 178-188.
    4. Wijaya, Willy Yanto & Kawasaki, Shunsuke & Watanabe, Hirotatsu & Okazaki, Ken, 2012. "Damköhler number as a descriptive parameter in methanol steam reforming and its integration with absorption heat pump system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 141-147.
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    8. Gu, Rong & Ding, Jing & Wang, Yarong & Yuan, Qinquan & Wang, Weilong & Lu, Jianfeng, 2019. "Heat transfer and storage performance of steam methane reforming in tubular reactor with focused solar simulator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 789-801.
    9. Wu, Zhicong & Xu, Gang & Zhang, Wentao & Xue, Xiaojun & Chen, Heng, 2023. "Thermodynamic and economic analysis of a new methanol steam reforming system integrated with CO2 heat pump and cryogenic separation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    10. Bai, Zhang & Liu, Qibin & Gong, Liang & Lei, Jing, 2019. "Application of a mid-/low-temperature solar thermochemical technology in the distributed energy system with cooling, heating and power production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Roca, Lidia & de la Calle, Alberto & Yebra, Luis J., 2013. "Heliostat-field gain-scheduling control applied to a two-step solar hydrogen production plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 298-305.
    12. Zhu, Tao & Li, Qiang & Xuan, Yimin & Liu, Dong & Hong, Hui, 2019. "Performance investigation of a hybrid photovoltaics and mid-temperature methanol thermochemistry system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    13. Cheng, Ze-Dong & Men, Jing-Jing & Liu, Shi-Cheng & He, Ya-Ling, 2019. "Three-dimensional numerical study on a novel parabolic trough solar receiver-reactor of a locally-installed Kenics static mixer for efficient hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 131-146.
    14. Cheng, Ze-Dong & Leng, Ya-Kun & Men, Jing-Jing & He, Ya-Ling, 2020. "Numerical study on a novel parabolic trough solar receiver-reactor and a new control strategy for continuous and efficient hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    15. Wu, Zhicong & Xu, Gang & Ge, Shiyu & Liang, Shixing & Xue, Xiaojun & Chen, Heng, 2024. "An efficient methanol pre-reforming gas turbine combined cycle with mid-temperature energy upgradation: Thermodynamic and economic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    16. Cheng, Ze-Dong & Men, Jing-Jing & He, Ya-Ling & Tao, Yu-Bing & Ma, Zhao, 2019. "Comprehensive study on novel parabolic trough solar receiver-reactors of gradually-varied porosity catalyst beds for hydrogen production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1766-1781.
    17. Li, Wenjia & Hao, Yong, 2017. "Efficient solar power generation combining photovoltaics and mid-/low-temperature methanol thermochemistry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 377-385.
    18. Wang, Hongsheng & Wang, Bingzheng & Qi, Xingyu & Wang, Jian & Yang, Rufan & Li, Duanxing & Hu, Xuejiao, 2021. "Innovative non–oxidative methane dehydroaromatization via solar membrane reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    19. Wang, Qiliang & Yang, Honglun & Zhong, Shuai & Huang, Yihang & Hu, Mingke & Cao, Jingyu & Pei, Gang & Yang, Hongxing, 2020. "Comprehensive experimental testing and analysis on parabolic trough solar receiver integrated with radiation shield," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    20. Gu, Xiaoguang & Taylor, Robert A. & Morrison, Graham & Rosengarten, Gary, 2014. "Theoretical analysis of a novel, portable, CPC-based solar thermal collector for methanol reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 467-475.
    21. Lu, Jianfeng & Chen, Yuan & Ding, Jing & Wang, Weilong, 2016. "High temperature energy storage performances of methane reforming with carbon dioxide in a tubular packed reactor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1473-1482.
    22. Troncoso, E. & Lapeña-Rey, N. & Gonzalez, M., 2016. "Design tool for offgrid hydrogen refuelling systems for aerospace applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 476-487.
    23. Liu, Xiufeng & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "Mid-temperature solar fuel process combining dual thermochemical reactions for effectively utilizing wider solar irradiance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1031-1039.

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