Solar power towers can be used to make hydrogen on a large scale. Electrolyzers could be used to convert solar electricity produced by the power tower to hydrogen, but this process is relatively inefficient. Rather, efficiency can be much improved if solar heat is directly converted to hydrogen via a thermochemical process. In the research summarized here, the marriage of a high-temperature (∼1000 °C) power tower with a sulfuric acid/hybrid thermochemical cycle (SAHT) was studied. The concept combines a solar power tower, a solid-particle receiver, a particle thermal energy storage system, and a hybrid-sulfuric-acid cycle. The cycle is “hybrid” because it produces hydrogen with a combination of thermal input and an electrolyzer. This solar thermochemical plant is predicted to produce hydrogen at a much lower cost than a solar-electrolyzer plant of similar size. To date, only small lab-scale tests have been conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of a few of the subsystems and a key immediate issue is demonstration of flow stability within the solid-particle receiver. The paper describes the systems analysis that led to the favorable economic conclusions and discusses the future development path.
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ASME 2005 International Solar Energy Conference
August 6–12, 2005
Orlando, Florida, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Solar Energy Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4737-3
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Central-Station Solar Hydrogen Power Plant
Gregory J. Kolb,
Gregory J. Kolb
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
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Richard B. Diver,
Richard B. Diver
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
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Nathan Siegel
Nathan Siegel
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
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Gregory J. Kolb
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Richard B. Diver
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Nathan Siegel
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
Paper No:
ISEC2005-76052, pp. 645-650; 6 pages
Published Online:
October 15, 2008
Citation
Kolb, GJ, Diver, RB, & Siegel, N. "Central-Station Solar Hydrogen Power Plant." Proceedings of the ASME 2005 International Solar Energy Conference. Solar Energy. Orlando, Florida, USA. August 6–12, 2005. pp. 645-650. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/ISEC2005-76052
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