Improvement of CO2 Photoreduction Efficiency by Process Intensification

This paper addresses an innovative approach to improve CO2 photoreduction via process intensification. The principle of CO2 photoreduction using process intensification is presented and reviewed. Process intensification via concentrating solar light technology is developed and demonstrated. The concept consists in rising the incident light intensity as well as the reaction temperature and pressure during CO2 photoreduction using concentrating solar light. A solar reactor system using concentrated sunlight was accordingly designed and set up. The distribution of light intensity and temperature in the reactor was modeled and simulated. CO2 photoreduction performance in the reactor system was assessed, and the reaction temperature and pressure evolution were recorded. The results showed that the light intensity, temperature, and pressure could be effectively increased and irradiation on the catalyst surface followed a Gaussian distribution. The CO2 photoreduction reaction rates were enhanced to hundreds of times.