Structural Design and Analysis of Plastic Component Reactors for Solar Hydrogen Production

Abstract

In this capstone design project, we set out to design a plastic reactor for solar-hydrogen production. The reactor facilitates chemical reactions, using solar energy as fuel, and soluble redox shuttles for electron transport, to break apart water in hydrogen and oxygen byproducts. The design minimizes light absorption by the plastic tank housing by utilizing PET material and is dimensioned to minimize diffusion time for rapid redox shuttle transport. The recommendation of the team is to have a membrane to unit cell ratio of 72% or greater to ensure sufficient redox shuttle transport for steady state operation. The safe operation of the reactor of minimizing the mixing of hydrogen and oxygen products is carried out by the utilization of two compartments. Without the need for a pump, this design minimizes energy consumption by the reactor components, and allows for scaling of the reactor to different sized volumes of water due to its geometry.