Particle Fluidized Bed Receiver/Reactor with a Beam-down Solar Concentrating Optics: Performance Test of Two-step Water Splitting with Ceria Particles Using 30-kWth Sun- simulator

The first performance test of a novel windowed solar fluidized bed reactor was carried out for a two-step water splitting cycle with ceria particles by using a 30-kW(th) sun-simulator. O-2 and H-2 were successfully produced by the reactor system. During the thermal reduction step of the two-step water splitting, a fluidized bed of ceria particles was created by passing N-2 gas through the perforated bottom plate of the reactor, and about 30 kW(th) of high flux visible light from 19 xenon-arc lamps of the sun-simulator was directed inside the reactor through a quartz window to directly irradiate the top of the fluidized bed. The central bed temperature reached the temperature of 1400 to 1500 degrees C in the thermal reduction step. The subsequent water decomposition or hydrolysis step was performed at the central bed temperature of 800 - 900 degrees C. About 6 - 12 Ndm(3) of hydrogen was produced by one cycle.