A review on solar reforming systems

Syed A.M. Said, Mohammed Waseeuddin and David S.A. Simakov

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, vol. 59, issue C, 149-159

Abstract: Direct combustion of fossils is a low efficiency process that leads to excessive carbon dioxide emissions. Highly efficient and clean combustion processes can be achieved by the use of hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen can be produced by steam reforming of methane which is a highly endothermic process. Heat required for such endothermic process can be achieved by the use of solar energy. The literature indicates that solar reforming is restricted to high temperature generating solar technologies like solar towers and dishes due to the high heat demand of the reforming process. A novel idea of using solar parabolic troughs in conjunction with a membrane reformer has been developed which allows low temperature operation of the process due to the equilibrium shift effect. Molten salt heated in the solar parabolic trough facility (up to ~600°C) provides heat needed for the endothermic reforming reactions. In this review, we provide critical assessment of the latest published developments in solar reforming technologies. We focus on reactor design concepts employed to couple the heat requirements of methane reforming process with concentrated solar power. The emphasis is novel, alternative routes which have potential of commercialization.

Keywords: Methane reforming; Hydrogen; Solar energy; Syngas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115014550
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:59:y:2016:i:c:p:149-159

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.072

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().