Abstract
The design procedure for a 3 kWth prototype solar thermochemical reactor to implement isothermal redox cycling of ceria for CO2 splitting is presented. The reactor uses beds of mm-sized porous ceria particles contained in the annulus of concentric alumina tube assemblies that line the cylindrical wall of a solar cavity receiver. The porous particle beds provide high surface area for the heterogeneous reactions, rapid heat and mass transfer, and low pressure drop. Redox cycling is accomplished by alternating flows of inert sweep gas and CO2 through the bed. The gas flow rates and cycle step durations are selected by scaling the results from small-scale experiments. Thermal and thermomechanical models of the reactor and reactive element tubes are developed to predict the steady-state temperature and stress distributions for nominal operating conditions. The simulation results indicate that the target temperature of 1773 K will be reached in the prototype reactor and that the Mohr-Coulomb static factor of safety is above two everywhere in the tubes, indicating that thermo-mechanical stresses in the tubes remain acceptably low.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 031007 |
Journal | Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Transactions of the ASME |
Volume | 137 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The financial support by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Award No. DEAR0000182) to the University of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (Grant No. RM-0001-12) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors acknowledge the computing facilities provided by the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI) at the University of Minnesota.
Funding Information:
The financial support by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (Award No. DEAR0000182) to the University of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (Grant No. RM-0001-12) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors acknowledge the computing facilities provided by the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI) at the University of Minnesota.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2015 by ASME.
Keywords
- CO splitting
- Ceria
- Isothermal
- Reactor
- Solar
- Thermochemical