Photochemical hydrocarbon fuel regeneration: Hydrogen-rich fuel from CO2

Abstract

This paper presents the concept of photochemical hydrocarbon fuel regeneration by CO2 transformation to hydrogen-rich fuel. The first stage of this system is CO2 capture and algae (Chlorella vulgaris) growing. The second stage is the gasification of algae biomass to produce hydrogen-rich gas and its combustion. To compile the heat and mass balance, the thermodynamic analysis was performed under various operating parameters: temperature 400–800 °C, pressure 1–10 bar 1 kg of biomass was gasified with 1.2 kg of water. The heat of combustion of hydrogen-rich gas after gasification is up to 43% higher than the heat of combustion of initial biomass. The fuel regeneration degree is up to 0.9 when 30% of CO2 is captured by water and proceded by algae. Moreover, the analyzed photochemical fuel regeneration system allows heat recuperation. The heat regeneration degree is calculated and the maximum value is about 0.9 is reached at 600 °C.