Thermochemical copper Oxide - Copper sulfate water splitting cycle for solar hydrogen production

Abstract

In this paper, the solar thermochemical copper oxide - copper sulfate (CO-CS) water splitting cycle is thermodynamically investigated. CO-CS cycle consists of two steps: first step - exothermic oxidation of CuO via water splitting reaction producing H2, and second step - the CuSO4 is thermally decomposed into CuO, SO2, and O2. The CuO is recylced back to first step and can be used in multiple steps. This study is divided into two steps: 1. Thermodynamic equlibrium analysis, and 2. Second law energy and exergy analysis. At the end, the efficiency of CO-CS cycle is calculated and the results of the thermodynamic analysis are reported in detail.