Award Date

1-1-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Committee Member

Yitung Chen

Number of Pages

80

Abstract

In this study three different kind of solar thermochemical cycles (methane reforming process, sulfur-iodine cycle and copper-chlorine cycle) have been analyzed to produce hydrogen gas. Methane reforming processes (steam methane reforming, partial oxidation and autothermal reforming) have been analyzed and simulation flowsheets have been developed. In this analysis, the temperature of all the reforming reactors are varied in the range of 500-1000 °C due to the transient nature of the solar energy. The results show that the POX reforming system is better than the other two systems for the production of the same amount of hydrogen from CH4; Process analysis and simulation flowsheets for all the three sections of the sulfuriodine (S-I) cycle have been developed. This chemical cycle and flowsheets have been developed by General Atomics (GA). A potential solar concentrated heat source will produce the high temperature for H2 SO4 and HI decomposition. While the results and efficiency analysis presented in this study are preliminary, the ASPEN PLUS models promise to be useful to evaluate and improve the overall S-I cycle. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Keywords

Analysis; Generation; Hydrogen; Process; Simulation; Solar; Thermochemical

Controlled Subject

Mechanical engineering

File Format

pdf

File Size

2088.96 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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