Volume 47

Proposal and assessment of a novel combined heat and power system based on solar photothermal methane dry reforming Kailun Yu, Hao Feng, Ying Zhang, Dong Liu, Qiang Li

Abstract

A novel combined heat and power (CHP) system based on solar photothermal methane dry reforming is proposed. Methane is reformed with carbon dioxide by a combination of light and heat to produce syngas. Compared to traditional solar thermochemical reforming, which requires a reaction temperature as high as 900 °C, photothermal reforming has been demonstrated to be performed at much lower temperatures. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and micro gas turbine (MGT) are combined for power generation, while the waste heat is used to supply domestic hot water (DHW). The energy and exergy efficiencies of the novel CHP system reach up to 86.8% and 47.3%, respectively. For the same share of solar energy, the net solar power generation efficiency of the system based on photothermal reforming is 17.8%, which is significantly higher than that of the system based on thermochemical (9.1%). Finally, the Energy Utilized Diagram (EUD) is applied to analyze the exergy destruction of the SOFC, where the main exergy destruction occurs.

Keywords solar photothermal reforming, SOFC-MGT, energy and exergy efficiency, EUD