Tapping the Sun to Produce Transportation Fuels

Oregon’s reputation as a national leader in solar power development is growing fast. Now, with funding from Oregon BEST, a team of researchers at Oregon State University is aiming to make Oregon the international epicenter for the manufacture of liquid transportation fuels using high temperature solar energy.

For years, the primary focus of solar energy research and development has been the production of electricity via solar photovoltaics and solar thermal power generation. Using solar-generated electricity to power vehicles, however, has limitations (battery life, storage capacity, vehicle range, etc.).

But using solar energy to produce liquid hydrocarbon or other chemical fuels is a viable new alternative, thanks to a breakthrough in microchannel technology research developed right here in Oregon. This Oregon BEST team is tapping this breakthrough to develop methods to produce synthetic hydrocarbon fuels and hydrogen from natural gas or biomass feedstocks. And this is the only academic research team in the U.S. known to be working in this exciting emerging field.

The production of solar fuels and chemicals uses thermal energy from concentrating solar energy systems to drive a range of chemical processes. While past studies of solar fuels and chemicals were not encouraging, the outlook is now much improved due to recent developments (low-cost solar concentrators, better microchannel reactors and heat exchangers, development of biomass feedstock, and rising petroleum prices).

However, one key component that will enable production of low-cost solar fuels is still missing: a microchannel solar thermochemical receiver that can absorb the high solar flux and use it as a heat source for a microchannel reforming reactor.

This solar thermochemical receiver, and its process control, are what Oregon BEST researchers Sourabh Apte, John Schmitt, Vinod Narayanan, Chih-hung Chang, and Brian Paul are developing. Chang and Paul are developing gradient films using an OSU invented process—microreactor-assisted nanomaterial deposition—to manage the thermal stresses within catalytic and absorber layers at high temperatures. Apte, Schmitt and Narayanan are using simulation-based engineering to design microchannel reactors and develop control strategies for continuous production of solar-fuels.

When this research team succeeds, Oregon will benefit in several ways: reduction of the state’s use of imported oil, elimination of the transportation portion of Oregon’s trade deficit, and establishment of high-tech manufacturing capabilities for solar thermochemical receivers within the state.

Because of Oregon BEST’s close affiliation with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) and the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute (MBI), and BEST’s ability to build on their discoveries, Oregon is ideally positioned to lead this emerging industry, ensuring that the research and development associated with solar fuels and chemicals is focused in Oregon.

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