Screening of water-splitting thermochemical cycles potentially attractive for hydrogen production by concentrated solar energy

Stéphane Abanades, Patrice Charvin, Gilles Flamant and Pierre Neveu

Energy, 2006, vol. 31, issue 14, 2805-2822

Abstract: Hydrogen, a promising and clean energy carrier, could potentially replace the use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Currently, no environmentally attractive, large-scale, low-cost and high-efficiency hydrogen production process is available for commercialization. Solar-driven water-splitting thermochemical cycles may constitute one of the ultimate options for CO2-free production of hydrogen. The method is environmentally friendly since it uses only water and solar energy. First, the potentially attractive thermochemical cycles must be identified based on a set of criteria. To reach this goal, a database that contains 280 referenced cycles was established. Then, the selection and evaluation of the promising cycles was performed in the temperature range of 900–2000°C, suitable to the use of concentrated solar energy. About 30 cycles selected for further investigations are presented in this paper. The principles and basis for a thermodynamic evaluation of the cycles are also given.

Keywords: Hydrogen; Production; Water-splitting; Thermochemical cycles; Solar thermal energy; Exergy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:31:y:2006:i:14:p:2805-2822

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2005.11.002

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