The dual-bed hydrogen production process as being developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center. Process study

Clovis Linkous of the Florida Solar Energy Center is developing a dual-bed hydrogen production process. The idea is to break the water splitting process into two separate chemical reactions, each with roughly {1/2} the electrochemical potential of direct water dissociation. This enables the dual-bed process to utilize a much broader range of sunlight photons than conventional photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems. However, it requires twice as many photons per unit of hydrogen produced. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate and quantify the trade-offs presented by the dual bed process and determine if it holds economic potential as a hydrogen production technology. The capital cost of a /solar-based water dissociation system is roughly proportional to the solar collection surface area. Thus, the economics rely on how much hydrogen can be produced per unit of solar insolation.