07/04/2008

The solar reactor to produce hydrogen by splitting water, which was developed as part of the research project Hydrosol, is now in pilot operation. A demonstration was held recently as part of the "Solar Fuel" event in Almer?a, Spain. The Hydrosol project has developed an innovative solar reactor to produce hydrogen from water, and is coordinated by the Laboratory of Aerosol and Particle Technology of CERTH (Centre for Research & Technology Hellas).

As part of this work, an innovative technology has been developed for producing hydrogen by splitting water, using only solar energy. The technology was developed at the laboratory scale in the solar furnace of the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne, Germany, and has proven that the proposed technology is the first demonstration, on a global level, of the production of hydrogen by splitting water, using solar energy via closed cycles.

The project is co-funded by the 5th and 6th EU Framework Programmes for Research, and is the combined work of research centres and businesses from Greece, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain and Spain. The coordinator of the project is the Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute of CERTH, more specifically the Laboratory of Aerosol and Particle Technology (LAPT).

During the Solar Fuel event, there will be the first official demonstration of the pilot plant for the Hydrosol reactor. Specifically, the corresponding technology for thermochemical production of hydrogen has been developed on a pilot/demonstration scale with a power level of 100 kW/reactor on the SSPS-CRS facility of the Plataforma Solar in Almerνa, Spain.

The demonstration of Hydrosol on a large scale at its pilot plant is intended to accelerate the penetration and development of the results of research in the global energy market, and to demonstrate that the combination of solar power facilities and high temperature processes is a viable way to produce large amounts of hydrogen at a reasonable cost and without any greenhouse gas emissions, thus paving the way for a viable future and a purely renewable hydrogen economy.

At the one-day event, participants from the international industry and research community and representatives of European and national energy policies, promoted their strategies to develop fuels in concentrated solar energy facilities and the prospects for commercial use of these in the global energy market.

The Hydrosol technology has already been well received and recognized by the international community. It has been awarded the international Global 100 Ecotech Award at the EXPO 2005 in Japan, the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) award in 2006, and the European Descartes Research Prize 2006, which is awarded for scientific excellence and international cooperation.

Source: Hydrosol, CERTH