Solar Methane Reforming Microreactor Proof-Of-Concept With A 2X2 Array on a Full-Scale Dish

Abstract

Researchers from Université de Sherbrooke have developed a new generation of high efficiency Solar Microreactor to harvest the power of the sun for hydrogen production. This paper presents the architecture, the manufacturing and assembly of this highly integrated system that incorporates in a monolithic block the heat exchangers, catalytic bed and manifolds. Miniaturization of the system provides high heat and mass transfer capabilities and can easily be assembled into a matrix to cover the focal point of any Solar Concentrator. Performances of the Microreactor is first investigated in a laboratory using a high flux solar simulator to plot an efficiency map for a dry methane reforming test under different combinations of reagent mass flow and reaction temperatures. This map is then used as a benchmark for outside tests in order to evaluate the real-condition efficiency of such microreactor matrix. Outside tests were performed with the Université de Sherbrooke’s 100 kW SpaceWatt solar concentrator. It is estimated that the efficiency reaches up to 54 % for the matrix of reactor in real condition operation for an estimated heat flux of 520 kW/m2 compared to the measured value of 71% in laboratory conditions for a single reactor with a heat flux of 800 kW/m2.