Assessment of Natural Gas Splitting with a Concentrating Solar Reactor for Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production via thermal decomposition of methane using a solar reactor is analyzed for two different applications: (1) for a fueling station and (2) for power production. For the fueling station, the selling price of hydrogen is controlled by the high cost of hydrogen storage and compression, combined with storage limitations of the system, which prevents maximum hydrogen production. Twoalternate scenarios to lower the hydrogen production cost are evaluated: (1) sending the hydrogen directly to a pipeline network and (2) adding a small electric heater, which provides heat to the solar reactor when the hydrogen supply is low. For power production, the economics of two options for the carbon produced from the solar process are evaluated: (1) selling the carbon black and (2)burning the carbon to produce more power.