Category Archives: Tim Fine
Using molten salts may help solve solar thermal reforming’s intermittency problem.
Hydrogen production using middle-temperature solar thermal reforming.
Lui and colleges at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Engineering Thermophysics examined the effect of solar radiation and mole ratio of water/methanol on the reactivity and hydrogen yield in a methanol steam reformer. The mole ratio of water to liquid methanol was set from 1 to 2.5. The reactor laden with Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 was driven by solar energy at 150–300º C.
Increasing Temperature and Residence Time Increases the Efficiency of A Solar Chemical Reactor
Using small-scale solar thermal reforming in conjunction with a hydrogen fuel cell.
While running the reforming component required a significant portion of energy from the grid, adding a solar thermal component to the reformer was found to be a more efficient way to capture solar energy—thereby reducing the energy needed from the grid—than adding a photovoltaic cell array of the same size. Domestic implementation of solar thermal reforming, in conjunction with a hydrogen fuel cell, presents a possible way to reduce GHG emissions; the emissions per unit of power from the reforming process are less than those generated by conventional power production.
Steam Reforming of Methanol May Provide an Economical Way to Produce Hydrogen
The low heat requirement of this process greatly reduces one of the largest obstacles to the large-scale implementation of solar hydrogen decomposition technologies. The low heat requirement lowers the energy required to obtain the hydrogen, which means that any power plants built using this process may be smaller than their high temperature counter parts. Smaller plants will cost less and have the potential to increase the hydrogen production capacity of an area: several low temperature reactors can be built on the area required a single high temperature reactor. The decrease in reactor costs and size associated with low temperature methanol reformation may help hydrogen become a viable power source