Solar-driven continuous methane reforming reactor

Abstract

In this paper we describe a novel receiver-reactor concept for continuous thermochemical fuel production powered by concentrated solar energy. The novelty of the receiver-reactor is a dual use of solar power. While half of the receiver-reactor is used to conduct an endothermic reaction producing solar fuels, the other half of the reactor has a heat exchanger characteristic. Through this heat exchanger part, energy can be transferred to a heat storage during daytime operation. During nighttime operation, the energy from the storage can be brought back into the reactor. We developed a prototype reactor and set up an experiment to test this new concept under solar-like as well as nighttime conditions.