INTEGRATING CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER AND MOLTEN CARBONATE ELECTROLYSIS

Molten Carbonate Electrolysis (MCE) is an innovative technology that allows to produce renewable syngas from steam and carbon dioxide. A new system design is presented, integrating the electrolyzer technology with solar energy. Two separate solar technologies are considered: photovoltaic and concentrated solar power. Due to the peculiarities of MCE technology, both electrical power and heat are used as energy inputs for electrochemical and chemical endothermic reactions. Electricity produced by solar photovoltaic (PV) supplies power to the electrolyzer, while concentrated solar power (CSP) provides high-temperature heat to keep the electrolyzer in operation for an increased number of hours per day, without depending on the power grid supply. The synergy between CSP and MCE is strengthened thanks to molten carbonates, serving as a heat transfer fluid for CSP and electrolytes in the MCE. Preliminary results show how solar-to-syngas efficiency increases up to 22.5% compared to a reference scenario of 18% where the MCE runs solely on PV electricity. Moreover, thanks to the thermal storage function of CSP+molten carbonate, the MCE improves its daily duty cycle up to c.a. 10% in low-solar radiation periods.