Solar Hydrogen from Thermochemical Water-Splitting:
The HYDROSOL process and beyond
HYDROSOL-II
Athanasios G. KonstandopoulosCoordinator
Aerosol and Particle Technology Laboratory (APTL)CPERI/CERTH, Thessaloniki, Greece
Renewable Hydrogen Pathways
Consortium
APTL/CERTH/CPERI - Aerosol & Particle Technology Laboratory (Coordinator)
DLR - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
JOHNSON MATTHEY
STOBBE TECHNICAL CERAMICS
CIEMAT - Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, MedioAmbientales Y Tecnológicas
DURATION: 01/11/05-31/10/09; Total cost: 4.297.400 € ; EU funding: 2.182.700 €
The HYDROSOL Concept
Solar Hydrogen production via a two-step water splitting process, performed on monolithic honeycomb reactors, capable of developing high temperatures under concentrated solar irradiance and coated with active redox materials capable of water-splitting and regeneration, so that complete operation (water-splitting and redox material regeneration) is achieved in a closed solar reactor.
1 2 2x xM O H O M O H− + → + (Exothermic)
Reduced state Oxidized state
11 22x xM O M O O−→ + (Endothermic)
Reduced stateOxidized state
Renewable energy sources and raw materialsZero greenhouse gas emissionsLong-term potential
Descartes Prize (Mar. 7, 2007)IPHE Inaugural Technical Achievement Award (Jun. 13, 2006) 100 Global Ecotech Award-EXPO Japan (Sept. 1, 2005)
The HYDROSOL Concept
800 C
1200 C
The HYDROSOL Concept
The HYDROSOL Concept
Basic Features
Use of solar radiation absorbing ceramic honeycomb structures
Synthesis of active water-splitting redox nanomaterials with non-conventional techniques
Fixing/coating of the redox materials on the channels of the honeycomb
Advantages
No circulation of (hot) solid reactants
Product separation straightforward
No problems with the recovery of high temperature heat
Project Goals
The aim of HYDROSOL-II is to design and build a solar Hydrogen pilot plant (100 kWth) based on thermo-chemical water-splitting, carried out on monolithic ceramic honeycombs coated with active redox materials.
Set the stage for further scale-up of the HYDROSOL technology and its effective coupling with solar thermal concentration systems, in order to exploit and demonstrate all potential advantages.
Optimisation of metal oxide/ceramic support assembly (enhancement to achieve long-term multi-cyclic solar operation with high efficiency) Design of the 100kWth solar pilot plant (geometry and size of pilot plant “modular” absorber/reactor; adaptation of the heliostat field of Plataforma Solar de Almería to the specific thermo-chemical process and alternating heat flux requirementsManufacture of the integrated pilot-scale solar reactor system Test operation of pilot plant for continuous Hydrogen production Evaluation of technical and economic potential
Key project activities
2004: First solar thermochemical (STC) Η2 production
2005: Continuous STC Η2 production
2008: World’s largest STC H2 reactor (100 kW)
Hydrosol technology scale-up
Hydrosol-I
Hydrosol-II
DLR solar furnace
PSA solar tower
Materials Development
Field evaluationof coated monoliths
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 400
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
5. day4. day3. day2. day
mdo
t,H2 in
10-5
g/s
Time in h
1. day
50-cycles of solar water-splitting
Key milestone
Water-splitting on redox coated
honeycombs
Redoxmaterial coated SiSiChoneycombs
SEM analysis for the investigation of the quality of
coating and the effect of solar water splitting
Hyd
roge
n Y
ield
Solar reactor development
Design of the reactor
Thermo-structural modeling of the reactor
Reactor integration with heliostat field
Solar reactor control
Process flowsheet Reactor temperature control
Power East (23.04.2009)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
10:15:0010:30:0010:45:0011:00:0011:15:0011:30:0011:45:0012:00:0012:15:0012:30:0012:45:0013:00:0013:15:0013:30:0013:45:0014:00:0014:15:0014:30:0014:45:0015:00:00
Time
Pow
er [k
W]
Power SimulatedPower Measured
HYDROSOL-ΙΙ Reactor
SSPS Tower of Plataforma Solar Almeria, Spain
Hydrogen production in the Hydrosol II Reactor
c(H
2) [%
]
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10:1
4:25
:00
10:2
3:35
:20
10:3
2:44
:07
10:4
1:52
:96
10:5
1:02
:50
11:0
0:11
:62
11:0
9:20
:68
11:1
8:29
:71
11:2
7:39
:00
11:3
6:48
:32
11:4
6:05
:43
11:5
6:01
:18
12:0
5:54
:21
12:1
5:39
:75
12:2
5:34
:45
12:3
5:25
:87
12:4
5:16
:01
12:5
5:09
:93
13:0
5:27
:85
13:1
5:38
:89
13:2
5:49
:78
13:3
6:25
:34
13:4
6:39
:26
13:5
7:08
:35
14:0
7:44
:28
14:1
7:45
:50
14:2
8:13
:50
14:3
8:43
:34
14:4
8:38
:73
14:5
9:09
:28
15:0
9:48
:46
15:2
0:15
:14
15:3
0:54
:76
15:4
1:34
:09
15:5
2:11
:10
16:0
2:50
:15
16:1
3:29
:14
16:2
3:59
:71
16:3
4:38
:90
16:4
5:13
:87
16:5
4:56
:40
SummaryOptimization of the coating material and method
Investigation of the operational parameters that affect H2 production (amount of O2 during regeneration, increase of splitting temperature etc).
The HYDROSOL II reactor concept was scaled up from the solar furnace to a 100 kW pilot plant on the tower of the PSA
A control system guarantees stable working conditions, proven by thermal and hydrogen production tests
Challenges & Opportunities: Fuels from CO2 and solar H2
Η2Ο
Η2
CO2
From sequestration
C + O2 → CO2
4Η2 + CO2 →CΗ4 + 2H2O3Η2 + CO2 →CΗ3ΟΗ+ H2O
Η2Ο→ Η2 + ½ Ο2
CO
Η2Ο
Cyc
le
2C
ycle
Tomorrow’s Solar Thermochemical Plant
Production of Solar Fuels (renewable H2 and CH4 / CH3OH),Recycling of CO2, Production of Electricity and Desalinated H2O
CapturedCO2
H2O
Sea water
Desalinated H2O
CH4, CH3OH
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H2
Heat
Electricity
A Renewable Future for EuropeMare Nostrum (Reloaded)
Solar thermal
Adapted from DESERTEC White Paper (2007)
WindPhotovoltaicHYDROSOL
Hydroelectric
Biomass
Geothermal
Thank you for your attention!
www.hydrosol-project.org