Scalable solar Photocatalytic system for green Hydrogen (PhotoHy)

This project aims to investigate the technoeconomic feasibility of solar energy driven photocatalytic generation of hydrogen through developing extensive computer modelling tools and accompanying experimental programme.

The project will optimise the:

• photo reactor,
• optical concentrator, and
• photocatalyst to significantly enhance solar to hydrogen efficiency.

Two fully operational prototypes are being installed in BRUNEL and NRIAG (Egypt) to validate research hypotheses.

In Egypt, electricity demand is increasing exponentially and is feared to outgrow the generation and grid capacity. Associated pollutant emissions from the power generation sector is feared to rise as well. Looking at Egypt's high solar resource (2000-4800 kWh/m2/yr), an environmentally and economically viable option would be to generate green hydrogen using solar resource.

Traditionally hydrogen generation relies on the use of natural gas emitting greenhouse gases. Another method, electrolysis, though uses solar energy indirectly, is considered unscalable due to complexity of cell setups, need for external biases and electrode cost. Alternatively, photocatalytic technology, proposed by the PhotoHy project, uses water (clean, waste water, brackish water, seawater) as primary feedstock and solar radiation and is easily scalable with minimal environmental impact. This projects targets to provide solution for the engineering challenges including system level optimisation by testing a combination of photocatalysts applied on to a suitable substrate in conjunction with solar concentrators. The most optimised designs to maximise the hydrogen evolution rate in Egyptian and UK conditions will be identified and performance validated in outdoor tests.