Solar-Driven Thermochemical Water-Splitting by Cerium Oxide: Determination of Operational Conditions in a Directly Irradiated Fixed Bed Reactor

Concentrated solar energy can be transformed into electricity, heat or even solar fuels, such as hydrogen, via thermochemical routes with high exergetic efficiency. In this work, a specific methodology and experimental setup are described, developed to assess the production of hydrogen by water splitting making use of commercial cerium oxide, ceria (CeO2), in a solarized reactor. A fixed bed reactor, directly irradiated by a 7 kWe high flux solar simulator (HFSS) was used. Released H2 and sample temperature levels were continuously monitored. Three tests were carried out consisting of three consecutive redox cycles each, with irradiances in the range of 1017–2034 kWm−2. It was necessary to achieve a compromise between sample temperatures (higher temperatures lead to higher reduction rates) and sample stability, since absorbed radiation can degrade a sample at lower temperature (1280–1480 ◦C) than in a conventional infrared oven (T > 2000 ◦C). Irradiating the surface of the sample with an irradiance of 2034 kWm−2 (270 W of total radiation power) during 9.5 min eventually degraded the sample, resulting in a conversion into stoichiometrically reduced oxide (Ce2O3) of 11%. A similar conversion was achieved (9.7%) after 2 min of irradiation at 270 W (100% of radiation), but without irreversibly damaging the sample.

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