Numerical study on a novel solar-thermal-reaction system for clean hydrogen production of methanol-steam reforming

Renewable energy-driven hydrogen production methods offer a promising solution for mitigating energy crises. The present study introduces a new solar-driven hydrogen production system that within methanol steam reforming (MSR) process. The numerical analysis is carried out using a cylindrical Fresnel linear concentrator coupled with a solar thermal reactor (STR). A comprehensive kinetic model of the MSR reaction was constructed and combined with analytical methods based on Monte Carlo ray tracing methods and finite volume methods to analyze the multi-physical properties involved in the reaction process. The results indicate that a novel solar-driven MSR-STR system can generate a sufficient driving force after adjusting the concentrator structure and relative position to match the energy demand of the MSR reaction. The accuracy of the model is compared with the experimental values, and the average error is 7.8 %. Tracking error of the component should be maintained below 1.5° to ensure the optical efficiency. The annual hydrogen production was analyzed and the levelized cost of hydrogen is $1.77/kg. Finally, a comparison is presented between the proposed MSR-STR system and parabolic trough concentrator based MSR hydrogen production system to evaluate the feasibility of the former in terms of the economics of implementation.