Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Reactor uses sunlight to make hydrocarbon fuel

January 12, 2011

Researchers have developed a reactor that can rapidly produce fuel from sunlight, using carbon dioxide and water, plus a compound called ceric oxide.

This process is akin to the way grow, using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugar-based polymers and aromatics.

Plants grow by using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugar-based polymers and aromatics.

These compounds in turn can be stripped of their oxygen, either through thousands of years of underground degradation to yield , or through a rather more rapid process of dissolution, fermentation and hydrogenation to yield biofuels.

Yet right now, converting sunlight into a chemical fuel isn’t the most effective process, and practical generation of solar fuels remains a long way off.

Researchers have recently been exploring alternative possibilities of using sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuel without relying on the intervening steps of plant growth and breakdown.

William Chueh and colleagues now demonstrate one possible design, in which concentrated sunlight heats ceric oxide—an oxide of the rare earth metal cerium—to a high enough temperature to shake loose some oxygen from its lattice.

The material then readily strips atoms from either water or to replace what’s missing, yielding hydrogen or carbon monoxide (which in turn can be combined to form fuels using additional catalysts).

With a windowed aperture through which concentrated enters, the solar-cavity reactor is designed to internally reflect light multiple times, ensuring efficient capture of incoming solar energy.

Cylindrical pieces of ceric oxide sit inside the cavity and are subjected to hundreds of several heat-cool cycles to induce fuel production.

The study was published last week in the journal Science.

More information: "High-Flux Solar-Driven Thermochemical Dissociation of CO2 and H2O Using Nonstoichiometric Ceria," by W.C. Chueh; M. Abbott; D. Scipio; S.M. Haile at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA; C. Falter; P. Furler; A. Steinfeld at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland; A. Steinfeld at Solar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland. Science, January 2011.

Source: AAAS

Source

IP

WIPO

(WO/2009/055037) THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY




ABSTRACT:
The present invention provides a method for storing thermal energy, such as solar energy, as a fuel, by heating a reactive oxide substrate to a first temperature, such that the reactive oxide substrate is reduced, wherein the reactive oxide substrate includes a cerium oxide. The method also includes contacting the reduced reactive oxide substrate at a second temperature with a gas mixture including carbon dioxide, wherein the first temperature is greater than the second temperature, thereby preparing the fuel. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the reactive oxide substrates by heating a mixture including a doped cerium oxide and a pore-forming agent, such that pores are formed in the doped cerium oxide, thereby forming the reactive oxide substrate.

Source
US

United States Patent Application 20090107044
Kind Code A1
Haile; Sossina M. ; et al. April 30, 2009

THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for storing thermal energy, such as solar energy, as a fuel, by heating a reactive oxide substrate to a first temperature, such that the reactive oxide substrate is reduced, wherein the reactive oxide substrate includes a cerium oxide. The method also includes contacting the reduced reactive oxide substrate at a second temperature with a gas mixture including carbon dioxide, wherein the first temperature is greater than the second temperature, thereby preparing the fuel. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the reactive oxide substrates by heating a mixture including a doped cerium oxide and a pore-forming agent, such that pores are formed in the doped cerium oxide, thereby forming the reactive oxide substrate.


Inventors: Haile; Sossina M.; (Pasadena, CA) ; Chueh; William C.; (Pasadena, CA)
Source

US PAIR [Insert 20090107044 in "Publication Number" and hit "Search"]

Patent Application Information Retrieval Maximize
Skip to Main Content 12/257,840 Link THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY Printer Friendly Version
Select New Case Application Data Transaction History Image File Wrapper Continuity Data Published Documents Correspondence Data