An innovative solar reactor with Gaussian-pattern geometry for syngas production from dry reforming of methane

Abstract

Solar reactors are promising energy storage technologies that convert solar energy into the heating value of passing fluids. This study is focused on a foam-based solar reactor, one of the most common types of solar reactors, supposed to produce syngas from the dry reforming of methane (DRM). The novelty of the present study is that it proposes a new Gaussian-pattern reactor geometry inspired by the Gaussian distribution of the incident solar flux. Local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model and the finite volume method (FVM) numerical approach are employed to assess the performance of the proposed solar reactor design. A comparison between the present design and the benchmark design (the design with cylindrical geometry) shows that the new design leads to better temperature distribution and improves energy storage efficiency by about 3.3%.