Coupling of a high temperature electrolyser with concentrated solar energy

Abstract

The coupling of pressurized high temperature steam electrolysis (HTE) with concentrated solar energy in order to produce hydrogen is studied. Flow-sheets and simulations have been carried out in MW-range. Different solar tower systems have been considered. For a production of 400 kg/d hydrogen for its use in transport and with the molten salt solar tower technology, the total thermal energy input of the solar receivers is 20.43 MWth. The total electrical power generated is about 1.687 MWel. In the case of a production of 4000 kg/d hydrogen for an industrial use and using the DSG solar tower technology, the total thermal energy input of the solar receivers is 82.4 MWth while the generating power is about 16.7 MWel. In parallel, a demonstrator is being constructed to demonstrate this concept. For this purpose, a solar receiver was developed and tested in order to provide the electrolyser with superheated steam.