Issue 4, 2020

Direct solar thermochemical conversion of methanol into syngas via nanocatalysts at lower temperatures

Abstract

Solar thermochemical conversion is an effective way to store unstable solar energy as chemical energy in fuels; and thus, it is of great significance in the clean energy economy. Using thermochemical catalysts as the solar energy absorber directly is an advanced way to achieve high efficiency because of the cancellation of the heat resistance resulting from the heat transfer between the solar absorber and the catalyst. In this work, the photo-thermal conversion mechanism of catalyst nanoparticles in solar thermochemical processes was investigated theoretically as the first step. The multi-step temperature variations of catalyst nanoparticles with time were demonstrated. The results show that the direct solar thermochemical conversion performance is significantly enhanced by using nano-sized catalysts. Then, a CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 nanocatalyst was synthesized and utilized in a customized low-cost experimental system for the direct solar methanol decomposition. Compared with conventional systems, ours requires a lower solar concentration ratio and a lower system temperature and can be easily controlled to adjust the methanol supply rate to realize optimal solar energy utilization efficiency.

Graphical abstract: Direct solar thermochemical conversion of methanol into syngas via nanocatalysts at lower temperatures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Dec 2019
Accepted
29 Dec 2019
First published
02 Jan 2020

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020,4, 1693-1703

Direct solar thermochemical conversion of methanol into syngas via nanocatalysts at lower temperatures

J. Zeng, X. Yu, Y. Xuan, Q. Li and D. Liu, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020, 4, 1693 DOI: 10.1039/C9SE01227C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements