VARIOUS METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SOLAR ASSISTED FUEL PRODUCTION

摘要

Products from a solar assisted reverse-water-gas-shift reaction (RWGS) are used to create a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Heliostats focus solar energy to heat carbon dioxide gas. A water splitter splits water into hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules via the addition of the solar energy also directed from either the same array of heliostats via a beam splitter off a common receiving tower redirecting a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, a heliostat field dedicated for the water splitter, or from its own parabolic trough. A chemical reactor mixes heated carbon dioxide gas with all or just a portion of the hydrogen molecules from the water splitter in a RWGS reaction to produce resultant carbon monoxide. A synthesis reactor uses any unconsumed hydrogen molecules and the resultant stabilized carbon monoxide molecules from the RWGS reaction in the hydrocarbon fuel synthesis process to create a liquid hydrocarbon fuel.