Concentrating Solar Thermal Energy

10Synthetic Fuels from Hydrocarbon Resources

Sylvain RODAT and Stéphane ABANADES

PROMES-CNRS, Font-Romeu, France

10.1. Introduction to solar fuels

Concentrated solar energy can be used to convert liquid or gaseous carbonaceous materials (oils, natural gas, etc.) or solid carbonaceous materials (coal, biomass, organic waste, etc.) into gaseous or liquid solar fuels. This relates in particular to endothermal processes of hydrocarbon cracking and reforming, and also to the pyrolysis and gasification of carbonaceous materials (Figure 10.1). The use of concentrated solar power in providing heat for these processes offers various advantages:

• – avoids the combustion of fossil resources to generate heat, which reduces the global consumption of hydrocarbons;
• – limits the production of CO₂ and therefore the impact on climate change;
• – saves raw materials, as they are no longer burnt;
• – stores solar energy, having served for providing the enthalpy of reactions, in the products;
• – produces cleaner fuels that can be transported and stored;
• – delivers heat at very high temperatures with very significant radiative fluxes depending on the concentration ratios and therefore supporting certain reaction paths.

Figure 10.1. Main processes for manufacturing synthetic fuels from hydrocarbon resources. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/flamant/energy.zip

The performances ...