Development and performance evaluation of a novel solar mid-and-low temperature receiver/reactor with packed metal foam

Abstract

Solar-driven hydrogen production from methanol decomposition (MD) is an important method of storing solar energy as clean fuels and improving the solar energy utilization efficiency. Catalyst preparation is one of the key steps, but conventional Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 particle catalysts lead to uneven reactor temperature, reducing the efficient conversion of solar energy into fuels. To alleviate this challenge, a monolithic catalyst utilizing packed foamy copper as a carrier is developed with exceptional thermal and mass transfer properties. The experimental results validate its excellent performance in hydrogen production using MD. The absolute conversion increases by an average of 12.11 % at 250 °C and further by 14.43 % at 270 °C compared to the particle catalyst. Based on these findings, a novel solar reactor is proposed, and a multi-field coupling model is built. The comparative results verify the performance advantage of the developed solar thermochemical receiver/reactor with packed metal foam-based catalyst. It maintains high conversion rates and solar-to-fuel energy efficiency, while alleviating overheating problems caused by traditional particle catalysts. Under the design conditions, the new reactor significantly improves the absolute conversion of methanol and the energy efficiency of solar-to-fuel conversion by 4.57 % and 3.00 %, respectively, resulting in 92.64 % and 67.56 %. This study provides a theoretical basis and technical solution for more stable and efficient use of mid-and-low temperature solar energy.