DIRECT SOLAR THERMAL SPLITTING OF WATER AND ON SITE SEPARATION OF THEPRODUCTS .1. THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF HYDROGEN YIELD

A process of hydrogen production by direct solar thermal water dissoci ation and in situ separation of hydrogen from the dissociation product s by gas diffusion through a porous membrane is simulated by a theoret ical model. The mole fraction of the species of dissociation products which leave the solar reactor in two gas streams are related by a syst em of 12 non-linear equations. An iterative solution of this system of equations enables calculation of the net hydrogen yield of the proces s. The variation of hydrogen yield with reactor temperature, with pres sures on both sides of the membrane and with the fraction of gas flowr ate that diffuses through the membrane is presented and discussed. (C) 1997 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. All rights reserv ed