Methane/hydrogen mixtures from concentrated solar energy: The METISOL project

Abstract

The present chapter summarizes the results of the METISOL project, an initiative funded by the Italian Government and devoted to the production and storage in solid state adsorbers of methane/hydrogen mixtures. Two main routes were investigated for the production: steam reforming associated with Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and biological production based on optimized two steps methane and hydrogen production. The storage of the gas mixture was focused on automotive applications and was based on solid state high specific surface adsorbers such as activated carbons and Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs). The most interesting results of the project were related to the possibility to build a methane/hydrogen automotive filling station energetically coupled with the CSP/reforming plant. The following pages contain a detailed overview of the CSP plant.