(568e) Solar Thermochemical H2O/CO2 Splitting Cycle Using Ferrites

Solar H₂/CO generation via thermochemical water splitting (WS)/ CO2 splitting (CS) cycle was scrutinized by several research teams by employing zinc oxide, tin oxide, iron oxide, ceria and doped ceria, perovskites, and ferrites as the redox active materials. In case of ferrites, Ni-based, Zn-based, and Co-based ferrites, Cu-based ferrites have also shown promising results. This study deals with the estimation of the solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency of the Cu-ferrite based WS (CFWS) cycle by performing a detailed thermodynamic equilibrium and efficiency analysis. This analysis was conducted by utilizing the thermodynamic properties obtained from HSC Chemistry software. Various process parameters such as solar energy required, energy released during the H2O/CO2 splitting cycle, amount of energy that can be recuperated and others were determined by drifting the partial pressure of O2, TR temperature and WS temperature. The obtained results were compared with the previously, thermodynamically, investigated Ni-ferrite based WS (NFWS) cycle. As per the literature review, the thermodynamic evaluation of the CFWS cycle was not yet conducted.