3 research outputs found
Production of Methane by Sunlight-Driven Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Carbon Dioxide Methanation as a Means of Artificial Photosynthesis
This article describes an experimental apparatus of artificial
photosynthesis, which generates methane gas from water and carbon
dioxide with the aid of sunlight energy. This apparatus was designed
on the basis of our previous 100 m2-scale photocatalytic
solar hydrogen production mini-plant,
which continuously produced filtered hydrogen gas for more than several
months. A catalytic CO2 methanator was attached, converting
photogenerated H2 into CH4. The overall setup
was successfully operated, and photosynthetic CH4 was accumulated.
Several versions were examined by changing the sizes of the composing
assemblies and choosing specific purposes for experiments. The performances
of the water-splitting photocatalytic panels, the hydrogen filtration
subsystem, and the methanator are illustrated. One of the versions
was implemented in the competition of the European Innovation Council
(EIC) Horizon Prize on Artificial Photosynthesis “Fuel from
the Sun” in 2022. For future expansion as artificial photosynthetic
plants, the technical issues related to scaling up the plant size
are extracted and discussed from these results
Production of Methane by Sunlight-Driven Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Carbon Dioxide Methanation as a Means of Artificial Photosynthesis
This article describes an experimental apparatus of artificial
photosynthesis, which generates methane gas from water and carbon
dioxide with the aid of sunlight energy. This apparatus was designed
on the basis of our previous 100 m2-scale photocatalytic
solar hydrogen production mini-plant,
which continuously produced filtered hydrogen gas for more than several
months. A catalytic CO2 methanator was attached, converting
photogenerated H2 into CH4. The overall setup
was successfully operated, and photosynthetic CH4 was accumulated.
Several versions were examined by changing the sizes of the composing
assemblies and choosing specific purposes for experiments. The performances
of the water-splitting photocatalytic panels, the hydrogen filtration
subsystem, and the methanator are illustrated. One of the versions
was implemented in the competition of the European Innovation Council
(EIC) Horizon Prize on Artificial Photosynthesis “Fuel from
the Sun” in 2022. For future expansion as artificial photosynthetic
plants, the technical issues related to scaling up the plant size
are extracted and discussed from these results