System and technoeconomic analysis of solar thermochemical hydrogen production

Ma, Zhiwen; Davenport, Patrick; Saur, Genevieve

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.108

System and technoeconomic analysis of solar thermochemical hydrogen production

Journal Article · Wed Mar 23 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Renewable Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.108· OSTI ID:1863773

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National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier that can be obtained from various feedstocks using renewable energy sources. Direct solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) production by water splitting can utilize the full spectrum of solar radiation and has the potential to achieve high solar energy conversion efficiencies. Currently STCH research areas focus on material discovery. This paper evaluates the performance of various STCH materials in the context of a system platform to assess techno-economic benefits and gaps in the path to STCH scale-up. Additionally, to analyze the hydrogen production cost, a concentrating solar thermal (CST) system is introduced as a platform for integrating STCH materials and accommodating generalized thermochemical processes. The thermochemical process is based on a two-step STCH cycle using metal oxide that consists of a high temperature step for metal oxide reduction, followed by an oxidation step for water splitting at a lower temperature. A preferred configuration is to have the high temperature step occurring in a directly irradiated solar receiver reactor. To this end, we conceptualized a receiver design and associated solar field layout and investigated STCH operational boundaries, component costs and sensitivity parameters on the $2/kgH₂ goal of hydrogen production. The study explored system-related variables and factors associated with scaling up. The CST platform allows more comprehensive studies that encompass aspects of STCH materials and systems such as cost, hydrogen productivity and replacement frequency, alongside other system components like heliostat field, tower, and potential receiver costs.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1863773

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1860981

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5500-77607; MainId:29533; UUID:86119a21-68f2-44fc-814d-22f7c0c2a3d0; MainAdminID:64329

Journal Information:: Renewable Energy, Journal Name: Renewable Energy Vol. 190; ISSN 0960-1481

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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08 HYDROGEN
14 SOLAR ENERGY
H2A analysis
hydrogen production technoeconomic analysis
solar receiver
solar thermochemical hydrogen production
water splitting

System and technoeconomic analysis of solar thermochemical hydrogen production

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