EFRI-RESTOR: Thermochemical Routes to Efficient and Rapid Production of Solar Fuels

该项目的目标是利用热化学方法将光子的能量转化为化学键，从而改造和扩大国家的可再生能源储存能力。该方法依赖于所选择的非化学计量金属氧化物，特别是氧化铈（二氧化铈）响应于温度变化而储存和释放氧的能力，其中热循环是由暴露于太阳辐射引起的。当与适当的反应物气体的引入结合时，所得到的化学计量变化可以直接用于燃料生产。这种燃料又可用于按需发电，采用常规燃烧或燃料电池。PI将建立在对非化学计量氧化物热化学循环行为的理解方面的最新突破的基础上，并扩大努力，以便（a）获得目标热力学和动力学特性，（B）在原型反应器中证明技术可行性，该原型反应器是在验证模型和测量材料特性的基础上设计和优化的。材料成功的关键是增强反应动力学和调节氧化还原反应的热力学，以便能够在有利于高热回收的气氛下在与反应器构造材料和太阳能聚光光学器件兼容的温度下操作。这两个目标将通过引入过渡金属掺杂剂和其他取代阳离子的主机氧化物，修改，可以进一步提高太阳能吸收率。除了基本材料特性的操纵之外，具有工程结构的多孔材料将用于增强热化学循环特性，例如，通过为快速反应动力学提供高表面积，确保对气体流动的最小阻力，以及提供可调的太阳能吸收特性。一个层次的热和太阳能热反应堆模型越来越复杂，将实现从台式实验的过渡到集中太阳辐射下运行的工作原型。 太阳能储存的热化学方法具有大规模实施的潜力，因此具有广泛的影响，因为该方法使用相对丰富的地球材料，并且效率非常高。除了技术上可行的方法的进步，该提案提供了一个多学科和国际环境的教育和培训的下一代能源科学家和technologists.The财政2010年EFRI-RESTOR主题，支持这一项目是由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）董事会工程（ENG），数学和物理科学（MPS）和社会，行为和经济科学（SBE），计算机&信息科学与工程与美国能源部（DOE）合作。

The objective of this project is to transform and expand the nation's renewable energy storage capacity using a thermochemical approach for converting the energy of photons into chemical bonds. The approach relies on the capacity of selected nonstoichiometric metal oxides, specifically cerium oxide (ceria), to store and release oxygen in response to changes in temperature, where the thermal cycling is induced by exposure to solar radiation. The resulting stoichiometry changes can be directly utilized for fuel production when coupled with the introduction of appropriate reactant gases. Such fuel, in turn, can be used for electricity generation on demand, employing either conventional combustion or fuel cells. The PIs will build on recent breakthroughs in the understanding of thermochemical cycling behavior of nonstoichiometric oxides and expand the effort so as to (a) attain targeted thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics and (b) demonstrate technical feasibility in a prototype reactor, designed and optimized on the basis of validated models and measured material properties. Critical to the materials success is enhancing reaction kinetics and tuning the thermodynamics of the redox reactions so as to enable operation at temperatures compatible with reactor construction materials and solar concentrating optics under atmospheres conducive to high heat recovery. Both objectives will be pursued through the introduction of transition metal dopants and other substitutional cations into the host oxide, modifications which can further enhance solar absorptance. Beyond the manipulation of the fundamental materials properties, porous materials with engineered architectures will be employed to enhance thermochemical cycling characteristics, by, for example, providing high surface area for rapid reaction kinetics, ensuring minimal resistance to gas flow, and providing tunable solar absorption properties. A hierarchy of thermal and solar-thermal reactor models with increasing complexity will be employed to achieve the transition from benchtop experiments to a working prototype operated under concentrated solar radiation. A thermochemical approach to solar energy storage has the potential for large-scale implementation and hence broad impact because the method employs relatively earth-abundant materials, and the efficiency can be extremely high. Beyond the advancement of a technically feasible approach, the proposal provides a multi-disciplinary and international environment for the education and training of the next generation of energy scientists and technologists.The FY 2010 EFRI-RESTOR Topic that supports this project was sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Computer & Information Science and Engineering in collaboration with the US Department of Energy (DOE).