Thermochemical Copper Oxide - Copper Sulfate Water Splitting Cycle for Solar Hydrogen Production

摘要

In this paper, the solar thermochemical copper oxide -copper sulfate (CO-CS) water splitting cycle is thermodynamically investigated. CO-CS cycle consists of two steps: first step - exothermic oxidation of CuO via water splitting reaction producing H_2, and second step - the CuSO_4 is thermally decomposed into CuO, SO_2, and O_2. The CuO is recylced back to first step and can be used in multiple steps. This study is divided into two steps: 1. Thermodynamic equlibrium analysis, and 2. Second law energy and exergy analysis. At the end, the efficiency of CO-CS cycle is calculated and the results of the thermodynamic analysis are reported in detail.