Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 30 June - 2 July, 2008.
This paper assesses current solar radiation concentrating
systems for the purpose of industrial scale steam, power, and
hydrogen generation with no or reduced amount greenhouse
gas emissions. Solar power concentrating energy systems for
the purpose of steam and power generation are presented
along with brief information on advantages and disadvantages
of these systems. Then the industrial scale applications of
these systems are given to highlight the already commercial
use of these systems as an alternative to coal or natural gas
power plants. Solar power plants that are under construction
are also summarized to point out the world wide ongoing
investments in this field. Although there are no large scale
hydrogen generation plants yet, the paper points out that the
existing steam and power generation systems via concentrated
solar energy can make use of already established infrastructure
for hydrogen generation by replacing the receiver with a
proper unit, such as a solar reactor. Then the paper provides an
example solar concentrating system of a laboratory scale
specifically constructed to generate hydrogen in a solar
reactor. Based on this example, integration of that system into
an existing solar concentrating power plant system is
discussed. The paper concludes with examples of some of the
industrial scale solar driven applications established in various
countries as illustrative examples to underline the expectation
for seeing similar commercial solar driven systems for the
purpose of hydrogen generation as well.
