Methanol reforming to produce hydrogen is an excellent way to provide fuel for hydrogen-based fuel cells. Since methanol reforming is an endothermic process, requiring an energy input, it is possible to use this reaction as a way to store primary energy. In this paper, we propose that this reaction can be driven with a new type of solar collector which has high overall efficiency. The advantage of the proposed design is that it can achieve high temperatures (up to 250°C) without tracking thus reducing capital and running costs. A CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) collector was designed with a half angle of 27.4 degrees and a concentration ratio between 1.5–1.75 over the entire cone angle. Furthermore, due to the small size of the designed type of collector, it would be easy to manually orient it so that the axis is aligned east-west, which would allow it to concentrate all day. The fabricated collector shown later in this paper has the advantage of being portable with a thickness of just 70mm. In this design, we use a vacuum layer between the receiver and the frame to minimize the convective heat loss and to allow for thermal concentration. Selective surfaces, such as TiNOx, are employed in the receiver to absorb solar (short wavelength) radiation while minimizing emission of thermal (long wavelength) radiation. An optical analysis via ray tracing shows an optical efficiency of 80% to 85% in the range of half incident angle. Also, a prototype of the designed CPC collector is manufactured and shown in this paper.
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ASME 2013 Heat Transfer Summer Conference collocated with the ASME 2013 7th International Conference on Energy Sustainability and the ASME 2013 11th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology
July 14–19, 2013
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Heat Transfer Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5547-8
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Optical Analysis of a New CPC-Based Solar Collector Designed for Hydrogen Production
Xiaoguang Gu,
Xiaoguang Gu
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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Robert A. Taylor,
Robert A. Taylor
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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Gary Rosengarten
Gary Rosengarten
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
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Xiaoguang Gu
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Robert A. Taylor
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Gary Rosengarten
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Paper No:
HT2013-17226, V001T01A030; 9 pages
Published Online:
December 21, 2013
Citation
Gu, X, Taylor, RA, & Rosengarten, G. "Optical Analysis of a New CPC-Based Solar Collector Designed for Hydrogen Production." Proceedings of the ASME 2013 Heat Transfer Summer Conference collocated with the ASME 2013 7th International Conference on Energy Sustainability and the ASME 2013 11th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology. Volume 1: Heat Transfer in Energy Systems; Thermophysical Properties; Theory and Fundamental Research in Heat Transfer. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. July 14–19, 2013. V001T01A030. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/HT2013-17226
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