Ehsan Baniasad - Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

In this paper a photo-reactors for catalytic solar hydrogenproduction is introduced and analyzed. To be aneconomical environmentally-benign and sustainablepathway, hydrogen should be produced from a renewableenergy source, i.e. solar energy. Solar driven watersplitting combines several attractive features for sustainableenergy utilization. The conversion of solar energyto a type of storable energy has crucial importance.In the first part of the entry, background information ispresented regarding different photo-reactor configurationsfor water dissociation with light energy to generatehydrogen. The photo-electrochemistry of watersplitting is discussed, as well as photocatalytic reactionmechanisms. The design and scale-up of photo-reactorsfor photo-catalytic water splitting are explained by classificationof light-based hydrogen production systems.At the end, a new photo-catalytic energy conversionsystem is introduced analyzed for continuous productionof hydrogen at a pilot-plant scale. The exergy efficiencyand exergy destruction of this system are investigatedfor these systems. The light intensity is found tobe one of the key parameters in design optimization ofthe photo-reactors, in conjunction with the flow rate ofcatalyst suspension.

Photo-reactor, Hydrogen, Solar, Water,Scale-up