Now showing 1 - 10 of 36
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Chemical Looping CH4 Reforming Through Isothermal Two-Step Redox Cycling of SrFeO3 Oxygen Carrier in a Tubular Solar Reactor
    (2025-03-01)
    Abanades, Stéphane
    ;
    Wang, Xinhe
    ;
    The chemical looping reforming of methane using an SrFeO<inf>3</inf> oxygen carrier to produce synthesis gas from solar energy was experimentally investigated and validated. High-temperature solar heat was used to provide the reaction enthalpy, and therefore the methane feedstock was entirely dedicated to producing syngas. The two-step isothermal process encompassed partial perovskite reduction with methane (partial oxidation of CH<inf>4</inf>) and exothermic oxidation of SrFeO<inf>3-δ</inf> with CO<inf>2</inf> or H<inf>2</inf>O splitting under the same operating temperature. The oxygen carrier material was shaped in the form of a reticulated porous foam structure for enhancing heat and mass transfer, and it was cycled in a solar-heated tubular reactor under different operating parameters (temperature: 950–1050 °C, methane mole fraction: 5–30%, and type of oxidant gas: H<inf>2</inf>O vs. CO<inf>2</inf>). This study aimed to assess the fuel production capacity of the two-step process and to demonstrate the potential of using strontium ferrite perovskite during solar cycling for the first time. The maximum H<inf>2</inf> and CO production rates during CH<inf>4</inf>-induced reduction were 70 and 25 mL/min at 1000 °C and 15% CH<inf>4</inf> mole fraction. The increase in both the cycle temperature and the methane mole fraction promoted the reduction step, thereby enhancing syngas yields up to 569 mL/g during reduction at 1000 °C under 30% CH<inf>4</inf> (778 mL/g including both cycle steps), and thus outperforming the performance of the benchmark ceria material. In contrast, the oxidation step was not significantly affected by the experimental conditions and the material’s redox performance was weakly dependent on the nature of the oxidizing gas. The syngas yield remained above 200 mL/g during the oxidation step either with H<inf>2</inf>O or CO<inf>2</inf>. Twelve successive redox cycles with stable patterns in the syngas production yields validated material stability. Combining concentrated solar energy and chemical looping reforming was shown to be a promising and sustainable pathway toward carbon-neutral solar fuels.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Solar-driven chemical looping reforming of methane over SrFeO3-δ-Ca0.5Mn0.5O nanocomposite foam
    (2022-09-15)
    Wang, Xinhe
    ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    ;
    ;
    Zhang, Junshe
    ;
    Wei, Jinjia
    Strontium ferrite (SrFeO<inf>3-δ</inf>) is a very attractive oxygen transfer agent for chemical looping reactions and hydrogen-rich syngas generation. Dispersing SrFeO<inf>3</inf> in a medium such as Ca<inf>0.5</inf>Mn<inf>0.5</inf>O could enhance the activity and cyclability. In this study, SrFeO<inf>3-δ</inf>-Ca<inf>0.5</inf>Mn<inf>0.5</inf>O (30 wt% SrFeO<inf>3-δ</inf>) nanocomposite with a reticulated foam structure was explored as the oxygen carrier for chemical looping reforming of methane in a solar tubular reactor. The foam nanocomposite was prepared by a hard-templating method. The performance was investigated at temperatures of 850–1000 °C and methane flowrates of 25–250 STP mL/min, and the oxidative gas was either CO<inf>2</inf> or H<inf>2</inf>O in the oxidation step. In the reduction step of 27 successive redox cycles, the production rate of CO changed marginally and CO yield maintained at about 1.9 mmol/g, even though sintering occurred. The productivity of H<inf>2</inf> decreased first and then tended to be stable at 3.8 mmol/g (i.e., twice the CO yield) as the cycling number increased (the average oxygen storage capacity of the material was ∼1.95 mmol/g). Microscopic and X-ray diffraction investigations suggested that the element distribution pattern and crystalline phase of the foam nanocomposite remained almost unchanged after 27 redox cycles, confirming material stability. The maximum solar-to-fuel efficiency for the foam nanocomposite was 5.68%, which was 21.4% higher than that for the powder nanocomposite. To increase syngas productivity and solar-to-fuel efficiency, it is required to conduct the reforming reaction at high temperatures and methane flowrates. However, the energy upgrade factor will decrease as methane flowrate increases.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Optimization of Carbon Dioxide Reduction in Biohythane Using an Innovative Water Scrubber
    (2019-04-09) ;
    Danugviluilux, P.
    ;
    Prasertsan, S.
    ;
    Prasertsan, P.
    The major problem of biohythane production from palm oil mill effluent is the high carbon dioxide (CO<inf>2</inf>) content. In this study, an innovative water scrubber system for upgrading biohythane has been experimentally investigated. Biohythane composing of ∼53.34% of CH4, ∼39.12% of CO<inf>2</inf>, and ∼7.54% of H2 was simulated regarding the composition of biohythane in the lab scale. Response surface methodology (RSM); a 5-level, 3-factor, central composite design (CCD), was employed to optimize three important parameters (biohythane flow-rate, water flow-rate, and operating time) in order to minimize the CO<inf>2</inf> content in the biohythane production. As a result, CO<inf>2</inf> concentration decreased with the increase of both the operating time and water flow-rate but inversely proportion to the biohythane flow-rate, which led to higher CO<inf>2</inf> absorption by water. The optimal condition regarding the maximum value of CO<inf>2</inf> reduction was found at: 3 Nl/min of biohythane flow-rate, 16 Nl/min of water flow-rate, and 9 min of operating time, thereby yielding 77.6% of CO<inf>2</inf> reduction.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Combined ZnO reduction and methane reforming for co-production of pure Zn and syngas in a prototype solar thermochemical reactor
    (2021-01-01) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    Solar thermochemical conversion processes offer a promising avenue for storing intermittent solar energy into high value chemical products. A directly-irradiated packed-bed reactor was developed to experimentally investigate the solar thermochemical methane reforming combined with ZnO reduction for co-production of Zn and syngas in a single process. On-sun experiments were conducted to demonstrate reliable process operation and to identify optimal operating conditions, considering the impact of reduced and atmospheric pressures, temperatures, and inlet methane flow-rates. A pressure decrease enhanced net ZnO conversion at the expense of lowered syngas selectivity attributed to the CO<inf>2</inf> increase because of insufficient gas residence time. Increasing temperature promoted syngas production rate, yield, ZnO and methane conversion at the expense of favored methane cracking which can be alleviated by lowering pressure. The maximum H<inf>2</inf> and CO yields of 28.4 and 4.6 mmol/g<inf>ZnO</inf>, and the maximum net ZnO conversion and methane conversion (67.3% and 57.6%) were achieved from non-isothermal tests. The calorific value of chemical products was upgraded by solar energy (U up to 1.31), and η<inf>solar-to-chemical</inf> = 3.9% was achieved. Pure and highly reactive metallic Zn was produced with well crystallized structure in micrometric size, demonstrating the feasibility of combined solar methane reforming and ZnO reduction for synthetic fuel production and sustainable Zn metallurgy.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Carbon-neutral synfuel production via continuous solar H2O and CO2 gasification of oil palm empty fruit bunch
    (2023-10-15) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    Solar gasification offers a promising carbon-neutral pathway to thermochemically convert waste biomass and solar energy into synfuel. In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of solar gasification of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) with H<inf>2</inf>O and CO<inf>2</inf> gasifying agents was first performed to predict equilibrium product distribution. Subsequently, on-sun continuous solar gasification of EFB was experimentally carried out in a solar particle-fed gasifier to evaluate the influence of gasifying agent types (H<inf>2</inf>O and CO<inf>2</inf>), gasifying agent/EFB molar ratios (1.8–3.4), temperatures (1050–1350 °C), and to assess overall process feasibility and reliability. As a result, solar EFB gasification performed efficiently with both H<inf>2</inf>O and CO<inf>2</inf> gasifying agents under continuous on-sun operation. Syngas product composition and gasification reaction rate strongly depended on gasifying agent type. Increasing temperature enhanced syngas yield and quality, and changed the CO/H<inf>2</inf> mole ratio, especially in EFB + CO<inf>2</inf> gasification. A gasifying agent/EFB molar ratio of 2.6 (slight excess of gasifying agents) and a temperature of 1300 °C were shown to be optimal for continuous solar EFB gasification. The maximum total syngas yield above 76 mmol/g<inf>dry_EFB</inf>, syngas lower heating value above 22 kJ/g<inf>dry_EFB</inf>, and energy upgrade factor above 1.37 were achieved from both EFB + H<inf>2</inf>O and EFB + CO<inf>2</inf> gasification, which closely approached their theoretical equilibrium values. The maximum carbon conversion exceeding 93% and solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency up to 19.3% were achieved, demonstrating efficient EFB-to-synfuel conversion performance. Continuous solar EFB gasification with both H<inf>2</inf>O and CO<inf>2</inf> was thus established to be a reliable process for EFB waste biomass valorization into high-quality and carbon-neutral synfuel.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Comprehensive analysis of on-sun catalytic reforming of methane with a hydroxyapatite-supported nickel catalyst in a tubular solar reactor
    (2026-07-22) ;
    Kulporm, Ratikorn
    ;
    O-Thong, Sompong
    ;
    Pham Minh, Doan
    ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    Methane reforming offers a suitable pathway for greenhouse gas utilization, but its implementation is hindered by catalyst deactivation due to carbon deposition and thermal sintering. This study shows that hydroxyapatite serves as a stable catalytic support for solar-driven dry, steam, and dual reforming. The influence of oxidizer type and concentration (H<inf>2</inf>O, CO<inf>2</inf>, H<inf>2</inf>O/CO<inf>2</inf> mixture) is experimentally investigated at 800 °C in a tubular solar reactor. A hydroxyapatite-supported nickel catalyst (Ni/HA) achieves methane conversion exceeding 95% with 95% H<inf>2</inf> and 96% CO selectivity. An excess of oxidant (oxidant/CH<inf>4</inf> mole ratio of 1.2-1.5) is recommended to promote CH<inf>4</inf> conversion, improve solar reactor performance, and prevent carbon formation and catalyst deactivation. Through sequential on-sun experimental runs, energy upgrade factor above 1.5 and solar-to-fuel efficiency over 20% are attained, demonstrating high catalytic performance stabilized by the metal dispersion on the support. Dual reforming exhibits the highest syngas yield and performance, with minimized carbon formation and H<inf>2</inf>/CO ratio approaching 2.0. Catalyst characterization (XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM/EDX) confirms high thermal/chemical stability of Ni/HA under solar heating conditions. These results demonstrate compatibility of Ni/HA catalyst with solar methane reforming, providing a high-efficiency sustainable system for converting greenhouse gases into syngas.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Solar metallurgical process for high-purity Zn and syngas production using carbon or biomass feedstock in a flexible thermochemical reactor
    (2023-05-05) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    Co-production of high-purity Zn and syngas via carbothermal reduction of ZnO was performed in a directly-irradiated concentrated solar reactor, thereby converting and storing intermittent sunlight into high-value chemical fuels and commodities. On-sun experiments were carried out by varying operating parameters including solid carbonaceous feedstocks (either solid carbon or beech wood biomass) in batch and continuous modes at 950–1350 °C, demonstrating solar reactor flexibility and robustness. Decreasing pressure (150–400 hPa) promoted both ZnO reduction rate and net ZnO conversion above 78%, thus enhancing Zn production yield. Nevertheless, CO selectivity decreased because of rising CO<inf>2</inf> due to the residence time decrease. A remarkable increase in gas production rates/yields, CO selectivity, and reaction extent was highlighted when increasing temperature during continuous pellets reactant injection. Furthermore, utilizing wood biomass as a sustainable green reducer was proved to be an attractive choice to produce both metallic Zn and high-quality syngas in a single process consisting of biomass gasification with solid ZnO. Zn content exceeding 90 wt% was demonstrated for both batch and continuous tests, unveiling high reactor performance for the metallurgical process. The energy content of the feedstock was upgraded by the solar power input (maximum energy upgrade factor up to 1.2), and the maximum solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency up to ∼ 6% was achieved with continuous reactant injection. The high-purity Zn can be further used to produce fuel via CO<inf>2</inf>-splitting in a complete and fast reaction.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Syngas production via solar-driven chemical looping methane reforming from redox cycling of ceria porous foam in a volumetric solar reactor
    (2019-01-15) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    ;
    Rodat, Sylvain
    The solar-driven chemical looping methane reforming using the non-stoichiometric ceria redox cycle (CeO<inf>2</inf>/CeO<inf>2-δ</inf>) was experimentally investigated for both syngas production and isothermal H<inf>2</inf>O/CO<inf>2</inf> splitting using a directly irradiated volumetric solar reactor in the temperature range of 950–1050 °C. Experiments were performed via two-step redox cycling encompassing endothermic ceria reduction with methane (partial oxidation of methane) and exothermic oxidation of reduced ceria with H<inf>2</inf>O/CO<inf>2</inf> under the same operating temperature. Ceria was used as oxygen carrier material in the form of reticulated porous foam structure and different operating parameters (methane flow-rate and reduction temperature) were varied in order to emphasize their impact on the bed-averaged oxygen non-stoichiometry (δ), syngas yield, methane conversion as well as solar reactor performances. The ceria cycling stability was also examined. The increase of both the methane flow-rate and reduction temperature promoted the δ in turn leading to a substantial enhancement in the syngas yields that reached up to 8.08 mmol/g<inf>CeO₂</inf>. However, they showed an adverse impact on the carbon formation associated with methane cracking reaction. Fifteen successive ceria redox cycles with stable patterns in the δ and syngas production yield validated material stability. The maximum δ achieved during ceria reduction was up to 0.38, complete oxidation yield with either water or CO<inf>2</inf> was achieved, while the highest solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency reached 5.22% and the energy upgrade factor was in the range of 0.97–1.10.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Comparative Performance Evaluation of Solar-Driven Methane Reforming with ZnO for Co-Production of Syngas and Metallic Zn
    (2023-10-06) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    Solar-driven methane reforming with ZnO for co-production of hydrogen-rich syngas and metallic Zn was demonstrated in a flexible solar thermochemical reactor prototype fully powered by highly concentrated sunlight under batch and continuous operation. This process provides a practical way to store solar energy into the chemical products while reducing reliance on conventional energy resources that emit CO2 and other pollutants. On-sun experiments were conducted using various operating parameters, including temperature (900-950 °C), pressure (0.15–0.90 bar) and inlet ZnO feeding rate (0.5–1.0 g/min), in both batch and continuous operation, to demonstrate solar reactor flexibility and reliability. The ZnO+CH4 reaction performance between batch and continuous operation was studied and compared. As a result, reducing pressure to vacuum condition improved the net ZnO conversion and lowered side methane cracking reaction, but favored CO2 yield because of insufficient gas residence time. Rising ZnO feeding rate under a constant CH4/ZnO molar ratio of 1.5 promoted Zn and syngas yields. In comparison, continuous operation outperformed batch operation in terms of higher ZnO conversion, higher syngas yield, and reduced methane cracking. Both batch and continuous operation yielded high-purity metallic Zn with a well-crystallized structure and micrometric size particles, thus exhibiting suitable reactor performance for the solar thermochemical methane-driven ZnO reduction process.
  • Some of the metrics are blocked by your 
    Item type:Publication,
    Solar chemical looping gasification of biomass with the ZnO/Zn redox system for syngas and zinc production in a continuously-fed solar reactor
    (2018-03-01) ;
    Abanades, Stéphane
    ;
    Rodat, Sylvain
    The high-temperature solar-driven chemical looping gasification of lignocellulosic biomass with ZnO/Zn redox pair was investigated as a novel process producing both syngas and metallic zinc. A lab-scale solar reactor (1.5 kW) was operated for continuous combined biomass gasification and ZnO carbo-thermal reduction using solar energy as the source of high-temperature process heat. Experiments were performed at temperatures ranging from 1050 °C to 1300 °C with biomass/ZnO molar ratios from 0.5 to 1, using beech wood as a biomass feedstock. The objective of this study was to unveil the advantages and reliability of the combined process involving biomass pyro-gasification with solid ZnO as an oxidizing agent under continuous process operation for co-production of syngas and metallic Zn. The influence of temperature and reactant molar ratio on syngas production was highlighted and compared to the case of a pyrolysis process without any oxidant. Moreover, the chemical conversion of ZnO to Zn obtained by this endothermic step was also addressed, confirming pure Zn production with low recombination in the collected solid products. The evolved H<inf>2</inf> increased significantly, CO production also tended to increase slightly, while CO<inf>2</inf> and CH<inf>4</inf> decreased when increasing the temperature. The syngas yield of the combined gasification/carbo-thermal reduction (up to ∼8 mol<inf>syngas</inf>/mol<inf>biomass</inf> for a biomass/ZnO molar ratio of 0.75 at 1250 °C) was much higher in comparison with pyrolysis. The calorific value of the feedstock was solar up-graded through syngas and Zn production in the case of the biomass gasification using ZnO, whereas pyrolysis was not energetically efficient because of the energy content still remaining in the produced char. The optimal biomass/ZnO molar ratio was evidenced at 0.75 yielding maximum syngas production. The energy upgrade factor of the feedstock by the solar power input and the solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency were 1.17 and 19.8% respectively for a molar ratio of 0.75 at 1250 °C.