Thermodynamic assessment of hydrogen production via solar thermochemical cycle based on MoO₂/Mo by methane reduction

Abstract

Inspired by the promising hydrogen production in the solar thermochemical (STC) cycle based on non-stoichiometric oxides and the operation temperature decreasing effect of methane reduction, a high-fuel-selectivity and CH₄-introduced solar thermochemical cycle based on MoO₂/Mo is studied. By performing HSC simulations, the energy upgradation and energy conversion potential under isothermal and non-isothermal operating conditions are compared. In the reduction step, MoO₂: CH₄ = 2 and 1020 K<T_red<1600 K are found to be most favorable for syngas selectivity and methane conversion. Compared to the STC cycle without CH₄, the introduction of methane yields a much higher hydrogen production, especially at the lower temperature range and atmospheric pressure. In the oxidation step, a moderately excessive water is beneficial for energy conversion whether in isothermal or non-isothermal operations, especially at H₂O: Mo= 4. In the whole STC cycle, the maximum non-isothermal and isothermal efficiency can reach 0.417 and 0.391 respectively. In addition, the predicted efficiency of the second cycle is also as high as 0.454 at T_red = 1200 K and T_oxi = 400 K, indicating that MoO₂ could be a new and potential candidate for obtaining solar fuel by methane reduction.

Keywords

MoO₂/Mo based on solar thermochemical cycle / methanothermal reduction / isothermal and non-isothermal operation / syngas and hydrogen production / thermodynamic analysis

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Innovation Practice Training Program of College Students, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Application No. 20184000028), the Practical Training Program of Beijing University of Higher Education High-level Talents Cross-cultivation (No. 16053225), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51476163, 51806209 and 81801768).

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