{"id":{"repo_id":"uoit","oai_identifier":"oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/323"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uoit/oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/323","repository":{"repo_id":"uoit","name":"Ontario Institute of Technology","base_url":"https://ontariotechu.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Experimental and theoretical investigations of a new integrated solar tower system for photocatalytic hydrogen and power production","abstract":"Solar energy conversion via photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is an attractive route for the propagation of a hydrogen economy. Increasing the efficiency of such systems to meet the target of 10% is essential for industrial their adoption. A new hybridized system employing a photocatalytic reactor and photovoltaic cells in a cavity receiver of a solar tower system is proposed. A fully functioning lab scale system, capable of handling continuous flow processes, is built, and experiments are conducted to investigate the behaviour of this system. Production of hydrogen in the photo-reactor is observed to increase with an increase in temperature and a decrease in the pressure to below the atmospheric pressure. A maximum quantum efficiency of 1.9% is achieved with a 77% - 23% ratio of CdS – ZnS mixture under a visible light source. With power output from the light harnessed by the photovoltaic cells, the energy efficiency is increased from 0.2% to 2%, respectively. The optimal flow rate for an electrolyte concentration of 0.3 M and reactor volume of 90 ml is determined to be 50 ml/h. A thermodynamic study of a proposed large scale system is conducted. This system combines a photocatalytic process, a photovoltaic process, and a heat engine to efficiently utilize solar radiation. For a given solar tower system that requires a reflective area of 913, 289 m2, energy and exergy efficiency values up to 40% and 30% are achieved respectively. Based on archived solar data, for a given summer day the system produces 50 tonnes of hydrogen if outputs from the photovoltaic process and the heat engine are used to run an electrolyzer.","abstract_html":"Solar energy conversion via photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is an attractive route for the propagation of a hydrogen economy. Increasing the efficiency of such systems to meet the target of 10% is essential for industrial their adoption. A new hybridized system employing a photocatalytic reactor and photovoltaic cells in a cavity receiver of a solar tower system is proposed. A fully functioning lab scale system, capable of handling continuous flow processes, is built, and experiments are conducted to investigate the behaviour of this system. Production of hydrogen in the photo-reactor is observed to increase with an increase in temperature and a decrease in the pressure to below the atmospheric pressure. A maximum quantum efficiency of 1.9% is achieved with a 77% - 23% ratio of CdS – ZnS mixture under a visible light source. With power output from the light harnessed by the photovoltaic cells, the energy efficiency is increased from 0.2% to 2%, respectively. The optimal flow rate for an electrolyte concentration of 0.3 M and reactor volume of 90 ml is determined to be 50 ml/h. A thermodynamic study of a proposed large scale system is conducted. This system combines a photocatalytic process, a photovoltaic process, and a heat engine to efficiently utilize solar radiation. For a given solar tower system that requires a reflective area of 913, 289 m2, energy and exergy efficiency values up to 40% and 30% are achieved respectively. Based on archived solar data, for a given summer day the system produces 50 tonnes of hydrogen if outputs from the photovoltaic process and the heat engine are used to run an electrolyzer.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shamim, Rafay Omar"],"institution":"University of Ontario Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master of Applied Science (MASc)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Dincer, Ibrahim","Naterer, Greg"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08-01","date_published":"2013-08-01","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:43Z","subjects":["Energy","Exergy","Hydrogen","Integrated sytem","Solar tower"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10155/323","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Dincer, Ibrahim","Naterer, Greg"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shamim, Rafay Omar"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-09-20T14:42:29Z","2022-03-25T19:02:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-09-20T14:42:29Z","2022-03-25T19:02:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-08-01"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Applied Science (MASc)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Ontario Institute of Technology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Energy","Exergy","Hydrogen","Integrated sytem","Solar tower"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10155/323"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Solar energy conversion via photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is an attractive route for the propagation of a hydrogen economy. Increasing the efficiency of such systems to meet the target of 10% is essential for industrial their adoption. A new hybridized system employing a photocatalytic reactor and photovoltaic cells in a cavity receiver of a solar tower system is proposed. A fully functioning lab scale system, capable of handling continuous flow processes, is built, and experiments are conducted to investigate the behaviour of this system. Production of hydrogen in the photo-reactor is observed to increase with an increase in temperature and a decrease in the pressure to below the atmospheric pressure. A maximum quantum efficiency of 1.9% is achieved with a 77% - 23% ratio of CdS – ZnS mixture under a visible light source. With power output from the light harnessed by the photovoltaic cells, the energy efficiency is increased from 0.2% to 2%, respectively. The optimal flow rate for an electrolyte concentration of 0.3 M and reactor volume of 90 ml is determined to be 50 ml/h. A thermodynamic study of a proposed large scale system is conducted. This system combines a photocatalytic process, a photovoltaic process, and a heat engine to efficiently utilize solar radiation. For a given solar tower system that requires a reflective area of 913, 289 m2, energy and exergy efficiency values up to 40% and 30% are achieved respectively. Based on archived solar data, for a given summer day the system produces 50 tonnes of hydrogen if outputs from the photovoltaic process and the heat engine are used to run an electrolyzer."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Experimental and theoretical investigations of a new integrated solar tower system for photocatalytic hydrogen and power production"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Dincer, Ibrahim","Naterer, Greg"],"dc:creator":["Shamim, Rafay Omar"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-09-20T14:42:29Z","2022-03-25T19:02:39Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-09-20T14:42:29Z","2022-03-25T19:02:39Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-08-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["Solar energy conversion via photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is an attractive route for the propagation of a hydrogen economy. Increasing the efficiency of such systems to meet the target of 10% is essential for industrial their adoption. A new hybridized system employing a photocatalytic reactor and photovoltaic cells in a cavity receiver of a solar tower system is proposed. A fully functioning lab scale system, capable of handling continuous flow processes, is built, and experiments are conducted to investigate the behaviour of this system. Production of hydrogen in the photo-reactor is observed to increase with an increase in temperature and a decrease in the pressure to below the atmospheric pressure. A maximum quantum efficiency of 1.9% is achieved with a 77% - 23% ratio of CdS – ZnS mixture under a visible light source. With power output from the light harnessed by the photovoltaic cells, the energy efficiency is increased from 0.2% to 2%, respectively. The optimal flow rate for an electrolyte concentration of 0.3 M and reactor volume of 90 ml is determined to be 50 ml/h. A thermodynamic study of a proposed large scale system is conducted. This system combines a photocatalytic process, a photovoltaic process, and a heat engine to efficiently utilize solar radiation. For a given solar tower system that requires a reflective area of 913, 289 m2, energy and exergy efficiency values up to 40% and 30% are achieved respectively. Based on archived solar data, for a given summer day the system produces 50 tonnes of hydrogen if outputs from the photovoltaic process and the heat engine are used to run an electrolyzer."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10155/323"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["Energy","Exergy","Hydrogen","Integrated sytem","Solar tower"],"dc:title":["Experimental and theoretical investigations of a new integrated solar tower system for photocatalytic hydrogen and power production"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Applied Science (MASc)"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Ontario Institute of Technology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:43Z"}