Solar thermochemical Dy2O3/DyO water splitting cycle for hydrogen production

Abstract

The thermodynamic analyses of the dysprosium oxide-based water splitting (Dy-WS) cycle are reported in this paper. The first step of the Dy-WS cycle involves thermal reduction of Dy2O3, whereas water splitting reaction is the following second step. HSC simulation experiments (by varying the partial pressure of O2 and reaction temperature) are performed to identify the equilibrium compositions associated with both the above given steps. Exergy and energy analysis of the Dy-WS cycle is performed to estimate various solar reactor process parameters including the solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency with and without heat recuperation. The HSC simulation results indicate that the solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency for the Dy-WS cycle is comparable with the ceria cycle.