Computational thermodynamic analysis of solar fuel production via metal oxide based H2O and CO2 splitting thermochemical cycles

Abstract

In this paper thermodynamic feasibility of the production of solar fuel via SnO2/SnO based thermochemical CO2 splitting redox reactions was investigated. The first step is the thermal dissociation of SnO2 into SnO where concentrated solar energy is the source of this high temperature process heat. The second step which is a non-solar exothermic stage is the reaction of SnO with CO2 to produce CO together with SnO2 that is recycled back to the first step. Commercially available HSC Chemistry software and databases were used for the thermodynamic modeling of this process. Thermodynamic analysis was performed in two sections, namely, a) equilibrium thermodynamic calculations, and b) second law thermodynamic modeling of the SnO2/SnO based thermochemical CO2 splitting process. Results obtained via the computational thermodynamic modeling are presented.