Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels from Water, CO₂, and Concentrated Solar Energy

Authors

Prof. A. Steinfeld, Ph.D., ETH Zurich

Year

2012

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 735

Summary

Solar H2O/CO2-splitting thermochemical redox cycles for the production of synthetic fuels make use of concentrated solar radiation as the source of high-temperature process heat. These processes operate at high temperatures and utilize the entire solar spectrum, and as such provide thermodynamic favorable paths to efficient solar fuel production. The targeted solar fuel is syngas: a mixture of mainly H2 and CO, which can be further processed to liquid hydrocarbons for the transportation sectors. R&D work encompasses fundamental studies on thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, heat/mass transfer, and chemical engineering. Solar reactor prototypes at the 5-10 kW power level – are designed, modeled, and tested in a high-flux solar furnace, further optimized for maximum solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency, and finally scaled-up for industrial applications – at the MW power level – using concentrating solar tower technology.

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