Solar thermochemical plant analysis for hydrogen production with the copper–chlorine cycle

✍ Scribed by S. Ghandehariun; G.F. Naterer; I. Dincer; M.A. Rosen

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 645 KB
• Volume: 35
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-3199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.05.028

✦ Synopsis

In this article, a solar-based method of generating hydrogen from the copperechlorine water-splitting cycle is developed and evaluated. An analysis is performed for solar plants with different hydrogen production capacities at three locations across Canada. Operating parameters of the solar field and the storage units are presented. The thermal efficiency and cost parameters of the hydrogen plant are also examined. A binary mixture of 60% NaNO 3 and 40% KNO 3 is used as the molten salt for solar energy storage. Different hydrogen production rates are analyzed. Since the solar irradiation in Calgary is much less than Toronto and Sarnia in the winter, it is found that a larger storage unit is required. The size of the storage unit increases for larger hydrogen production rates. The results support the feasibility of solar thermochemical CueCl cycle as a promising and efficient pathway for large-scale production of hydrogen.