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Title:
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Photocatalytic reactor for chemical processes
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Author(s):
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
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1998
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-I--98-045
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Other
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Number of pages:
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Full text:
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34
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Download PDF
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Abstract:
The increased atmospheric CO2 concentration due to the burning of fossilfuels for power generation is one of the most alarming global environmental
problems of today. The solution to the problem is the reduction of a further
increasing greenhouse gases emission; in the case of CO2 decreasing the
anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from combustion processes in power
plants by efficiency improvement or CO2 removal. One of a prospective
technologies which can helps in CO2 emission reduction from combustion
processes is an idea of conversion of CO2 and water into useful chemicals
like hydrogen, methane or methanol using the sun energy in an
photo(electro)chemical (PEC) reactor. Such concept was shown to be possible
at the Green Centre of Hitachi Research Laboratories, Japan. However, the
Hitachi reactor is very expensive and works efficiently only under
ultraviolet irradiation. The task for ECN researchers is to develop a
photo-electrochemical reactor which is cost effective, works under a visible
light irradiation and is very flexible in production of a specific chemicals,
i.e. methanol or hydrogen. A very preliminary economic evaluation of the cost
of hydrogen or methanol production in such PEC reactor showed that the cost
(o.46 DFl/Nm3 is still higher than the cost of H2 manufactured in
conventional steam reforming of natural gas (0.17 DFl/Nm3 ) and comparable
to the conventional water electrolysis (0.5 DFl/Nm3) . The key problem is
the development of a very efficient photocatalyst working in day light
conditions and therefore, the main effort on beginning of the project was
focused on the development of a thin layer titania-based photocatalyst
deposited on the surface of an electroconductive glass or metal by wash
coating and CVD techniques. 21 refs.
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