Modeling of a two-step solar hydrogen production plant

The promising advances in research in two-step solar hydrogen production from water have increased interest in producing hydrogen with this technology. In this framework, the Hydrosol II Project pilot plant for producing continuous solar hydrogen from water using a ferrite-based redox technology was erected at the CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería. Two reactors allow the oxidation and reduction steps to be performed in parallel, which, sequentially switched, make hydrogen production quasi-continuous.A dynamic model of a solar hydrogen production plant has been developed based on experience with this pilot plant. As it was designed as a control algorithm test platform, for practical control issues, some simplifications have been assumed to make the model suitable. The new model includes both a solar field model and a processing plant model and is able to simulate the concentrated solar power received by the reactors and the thermal and chemical reactor behavior. The solar field model and plant thermal behavior were calibrated and validated with experimental data. The numerical predictions show good agreement with measurement data.

► A model of a two-step solar hydrogen production plant for control issues is presented.
► Solar field and processing plant was modeled as two interconnected models.
► The model was calibrated and validated with real experiments.
► Model shows an average deviation in thermal performance of less than 3%.