Solar Thermochemical Splitting of CO2 in a Modular Solar Dish-Reactor System

Schäppi, Remo; Rutz, D.; Basler, Patrick; Muroyama, Alexander P.; Haueter, Philipp; Furler, Philipp; Steinfeld, Aldo

doi:10.18086/swc.2019.24.08

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Depending on the catalyst used in the GTL unit, the desired H 2 :CO x molar ratio of syngas for methanol synthesis lies between 2 and 3, while the desired H 2 :CO molar ratio of syngas for FT synthesis is about 2. The syngas composition, especially the molar ratios H 2 :CO and CO:CO 2 , can be controlled by adjusting the H 2 O:CO 2 feed ratio to the solar reactor 28 and/or by performing separately the splitting of CO 2 and H 2 O 24,25,29 and/or by simply choosing appropriate start and end times of the syngas collection. In either case, the syngas purity and quality is suitable for GTL processing and can be tailored for methanol or FT synthesis, as shown in Extended Data Figs.…”

Section: The Solar Fuel Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Schäppi

Rutz

Dähler

et al. 2021

Nature

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229

110

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Aviation and shipping currently contribute approximately 8% of total anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, with growth in tourism and global trade projected to increase this contribution further 1-3 . Carbonneutral transportation is feasible with electric motors powered by rechargeable batteries, though challenging if not impossible for long-haul commercial travel, particularly air travel 4 . A promising solution are drop-in fuels (synthetic alternatives for petroleum-derived liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as kerosene, gasoline or diesel) made from H 2 O and CO 2 by solar-driven processes 5-7 . Among the many possible approaches, the thermochemical path using concentrated solar radiation as the source of high-temperature process heat offers potentially high production rates and efficiencies 8 and can deliver truly carbon-neutral fuels if the required CO 2 is obtained directly from atmospheric air 9 . If H 2 O is also co-extracted from air 10 , feedstock sourcing and fuel production can be co-located in desert regions with high solar irradiation and limited access to water resources. While individual steps of such a scheme have been implemented, we now demonstrate operation of the entire thermochemical solar fuel production chain, from H 2 O and CO 2 captured directly from ambient air to the synthesis of drop-in transportation fuels (e.g. methanol, kerosene), with a modular 5-kW thermal pilot-scale solar system operated under real field conditions. We further identify the R&D efforts and discuss the economic viability and policies required to bring these solar fuels to market. Solar fuel production using H 2 O and CO 2 obtained through direct air capture (DAC) has so far largely been limited to bench-top 11,12 or pilot-scale 13,14 demonstrations of individual steps. A combined PV-electrolysis system 15 produced solar fuels from water and captured CO 2 , but the set-up was not optimized and coupling of intermittent solar hydrogen production with continuous non-solar hydrocarbon synthesis necessitated the co-feeding of fossil-derived syngas.

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Section: The Solar Fuel Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Schäppi

Rutz

Dähler

et al. 2021

Nature

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229

110

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“…Alternative to cosplitting of H 2 O and CO 2 in a single cycle, as shown above, H 2 O and CO 2 splitting cycles can be performed separately with the same solar reactor. Pure CO 2 splitting has been previously demonstrated for a 4 kW reactor in a laboratory setup using a high-flux solar simulator and for the present setup using a solar dish concentrator . We performed an experimental parametric study with separate H 2 O and CO 2 splitting cycles, targeting high syngas quality.…”

Section: Parametric Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pure CO 2 splitting has been previously demonstrated for a 4 kW reactor in a laboratory setup using a high-flux solar simulator 23 and for the present setup using a solar dish concentrator. 30 We performed an experimental parametric study with separate H 2 O and CO 2 splitting cycles, targeting high syngas quality.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Thermochemical Production of Syngas from H₂O and CO₂─Experimental Parametric Study, Control, and Automation

Schäppi,

Hüsler,

Steinfeld

2024

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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We report on an experimental parametric study performed on a modular and fully automated solar fuel system for the solar-driven thermochemical splitting of CO 2 and H 2 O. Concentrated solar energy is used as the source of hightemperature process heat for effecting a ceria-based redox cycle, producing syngas with a tailored H 2 /CO ratio. We determine the influence of the main operational parameters (namely: pressure, reduction-end and oxidation-start temperatures, CO 2 and H 2 O mass flow rates) on the key performance indicators, such as the specific fuel yield, molar conversion, and solar-to-fuel energy efficiency. We show how the syngas product quality can be tailored for Fischer−Tropsch synthesis by selecting adequate oxidation conditions, eliminating the need for additional downstream refining of the syngas. The entire solar fuel system is fully automated based on real-time product gas analysis and feedback control loops, and can be further extended with an auto-optimization scheme that executes online mass and energy balances to guide performance improvement. An example of a solar run consisting of fully automated consecutive redox cycles is presented to show the implementation of this control scheme for the optimization of the solar fuel system.

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Solar-driven thermochemical conversion of H2O and CO2 into sustainable fuels

Wei,

Pan,

Shi

et al. 2023

iScience

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Solar Thermochemical Splitting of CO2 in a Modular Solar Dish-Reactor System

Cited by 3 publications

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Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Solar Thermochemical Production of Syngas from H₂O and CO₂─Experimental Parametric Study, Control, and Automation

Solar-driven thermochemical conversion of H2O and CO2 into sustainable fuels

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Solar Thermochemical Splitting of CO2 in a Modular Solar Dish-Reactor System

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Drop-in fuels from sunlight and air

Solar Thermochemical Production of Syngas from H2O and CO2─Experimental Parametric Study, Control, and Automation

Solar-driven thermochemical conversion of H2O and CO2 into sustainable fuels

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Solar Thermochemical Production of Syngas from H₂O and CO₂─Experimental Parametric Study, Control, and Automation