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dc.contributor.advisorDincer, Ibrahim
dc.contributor.advisorNaterer, Greg
dc.contributor.authorShamim, Rafay Omar
dc.date.accessioned2013-09-20T14:42:29Z
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-25T19:02:39Z
dc.date.available2013-09-20T14:42:29Z
dc.date.available2022-03-25T19:02:39Z
dc.date.issued2013-08-01
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10155/323
dc.description.abstractSolar energy conversion via photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is an attractive route for the propagation of a hydrogen economy. Increasing the efficiency of such systems to meet the target of 10% is essential for industrial their adoption. A new hybridized system employing a photocatalytic reactor and photovoltaic cells in a cavity receiver of a solar tower system is proposed. A fully functioning lab scale system, capable of handling continuous flow processes, is built, and experiments are conducted to investigate the behaviour of this system. Production of hydrogen in the photo-reactor is observed to increase with an increase in temperature and a decrease in the pressure to below the atmospheric pressure. A maximum quantum efficiency of 1.9% is achieved with a 77% - 23% ratio of CdS – ZnS mixture under a visible light source. With power output from the light harnessed by the photovoltaic cells, the energy efficiency is increased from 0.2% to 2%, respectively. The optimal flow rate for an electrolyte concentration of 0.3 M and reactor volume of 90 ml is determined to be 50 ml/h. A thermodynamic study of a proposed large scale system is conducted. This system combines a photocatalytic process, a photovoltaic process, and a heat engine to efficiently utilize solar radiation. For a given solar tower system that requires a reflective area of 913, 289 m2, energy and exergy efficiency values up to 40% and 30% are achieved respectively. Based on archived solar data, for a given summer day the system produces 50 tonnes of hydrogen if outputs from the photovoltaic process and the heat engine are used to run an electrolyzer.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technologyen
dc.language.isoenen
dc.subjectEnergyen
dc.subjectExergyen
dc.subjectHydrogenen
dc.subjectIntegrated sytemen
dc.subjectSolar toweren
dc.titleExperimental and theoretical investigations of a new integrated solar tower system for photocatalytic hydrogen and power productionen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.degree.levelMaster of Applied Science (MASc)en
dc.degree.disciplineMechanical Engineeringen


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