Thermochemical energy storage analysis of solar driven carbon dioxide reforming of methane in SiC-foam cavity reactor

Solar energy is an abundant renewable energy source, and the use of solar energy for carbon dioxide reforming of methane (CRM) is a promising thermochemical energy storage scheme, but the reactor using the traditional powder catalyst has the disadvantages of complex encapsulation and low energy storage efficiency. In this paper, porous SiC-foam with high thermal conductivity is used to prepare Ni/CeO2–Al2O3/SiC catalyst, and then is loaded into a cavity reactor to achieve highly efficient and stable CRM under solar simulator. After a period of reaction, methane conversion rate remains high. As inlet flow rate decreases and incident energy flux rises, methane conversion rate is improved, and thermochemical energy storage efficiency first rises and then drops with maximum 31.4%. The numerical model of the cavity reactor under concentrated heat flux is established, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The structure of catalyst bed directly influences the heat storage performance, and the optimal bed thickness, radius and porosity are obtained. For thick bed, the reverse reaction appears in the end region of the bed, and then this region expands with bed thickness rising, so the reaction rate first increases and then decreases.