Solar reactor uses storage to produce fuel around the clock

(Credit: DLR)

Developed by scientists at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), CONTISOL uses concentrated solar power (CSP) in a similar way to a solar thermal plant. However, rather than converting the CSP into electricity, it channels the solar energy into a monolithic cylindrical reactor with multiple channels.

Half of these channels are used for chemical reactions that split methane or water into hydrogen, while the other half heat air to temperatures in excess of 1,000°C, which is then diverted for thermal energy storage. Once the sun has dropped, the flow of the air channels is reversed, and heat that has been stored during the day continues to power the thermochemical reactions throughout the night. The work is published in Applied Thermal Engineering.

“So the main idea of CONTISOL was to build two reactors together," said lead author Justin Lapp, formerly of DLR, and now Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maine.