SOLAR-DRIVEN PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN
A system and method for production of hydrogen from natural gas using a solar powered system are provided. An exemplary solar powered system includes a feed stream including methane and a solar concentrator reactor (SCR) to form hydrogen from the feed stream by pyrolysis. The SCR includes a rotating tubular reactor, a solar absorber material disposed on the rotating tubular reactor, a solar concentrator to focus sunlight on the rotating tubular reactor, and a gas-solid filtration unit to separate solid carbon from the hydrogen. The solar powered system includes a storage tank to hold the hydrogen.
1 . A solar powered system for production of hydrogen from natural gas, comprising:
a feed stream comprising methane; and
a solar concentrator reactor (SCR) to form hydrogen from the feed stream by pyrolysis, comprising:
a rotating tubular reactor;
a solar absorber material disposed on the rotating tubular reactor;
a solar concentrator to focus sunlight on the rotating tubular reactor; and
a gas-solid filtration unit to separate solid carbon from the hydrogen; and
a storage tank to hold the hydrogen.
2 . The system of claim 1 , comprising:
a raw natural gas feed stream; and
a desulfurization reactor to form the feed stream from the raw natural gas feed stream.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the rotating tubular reactor comprises a stainless-steel tube.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the rotating tubular reactor comprises a heat conductive ceramic.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the heat conductive ceramic comprises aluminum nitride.
6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the heat conductive ceramic comprises a composite of aluminum nitride and boron nitride.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the rotating tubular reactor comprises a methane pyrolysis catalyst.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the methane pyrolysis catalyst comprises Ni, Fe, Pd, or Mo, or any combination thereof.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the methane pyrolysis catalyst is supported on a catalyst support comprising Al 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 4 , SiO 2 , MgO, TiO 2 , Fe 2 O 4 , FeO, ZrO 2 , CeO 2 , Er 2 O 3 , or a lanthanide oxide, or any combination thereof.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solar concentrator comprises a parabolic reflector with the rotating tubular reactor disposed at a focal point.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the parabolic reflector is configured to track the sun.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solar concentrator comprises a linear solar concentrator.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the linear solar concentrator is configured to track the sun.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solar concentrator comprises an optical lens.
15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the optical lens is configured to track the sun.
16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the optical lens is a Fresnel lens.
17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solar absorber material comprises a two-layer coating, wherein an outer layer comprises a coating that is substantially transparent to light in a wavelength range of about 250 nm to about 1500 nm, and an inner layer, disposed under the outer layer, comprises a coating that is substantially opaque to light in a wavelength range of about 250 nm to about 1500 nm.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the outer layer comprises glass, sapphire, or diamond, or a combination thereof.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the inner layer comprises a solid film.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the solid film comprises carbon black, or silicon carbide, or both.
21 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the inner layer comprises a meta-material.
22 . The system of claim 21 , wherein the meta-material comprises silicon carbide particles in a size range of about 10 nm to about 200 nm.
23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein a layer comprises a substrate for the silicon carbide particles.
24 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solid carbon comprises carbon black.
25 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the solid carbon comprises carbon nanotubes.
26 . A method of producing hydrogen in a solar concentrator reactor, comprising:
desulfurizing a raw natural gas stream to form a desulfurized stream;
feeding the desulfurized stream to a solar concentrator reactor, wherein the solar concentrator reactor comprises:
a rotating tubular reactor;
a solar absorber material disposed on the rotating tubular reactor;
a solar concentrator to focus sunlight on the rotating tubular reactor; and
a gas-solid filtration unit to separate solid carbon from the hydrogen;
pyrolyzing the desulfurized stream to form a gaseous effluent comprising hydrogen and entrained solid carbon particles;
separating solids from the hydrogen; and
providing the hydrogen as a product stream.
27 . The method of claim 26 , comprising dehydrating the raw natural gas stream.
28 . The method of claim 26 , comprising rotating the solar concentrator to track the sun.
29 . The method of claim 26 , comprising providing the solid carbon particles as a product stream.