Solar Thermochemical Fuel Generation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90767

which requires high concentration ratio and large mirror area, and the system will be more complex and expensive. In situ separation by a permeable membrane for a target product shifts thermodynamic equilibrium of chemical reactions in favor of reactants conversion, which equivalently lowers solar collection temperature. Combination of membrane reactor and solar thermal collection offers unique advantages in many respects, such as the increment of conversion rate, decrease of reaction temperature, and emission reduction, which are otherwise unattainable by either alone. Besides, the all-solid-state feature and isothermal operation enable compact design of solar fuel reactors with minimized thermal stress. Now, the selective permeation membrane for gas species in high temperature is mainly oxygen permeation membrane, hydrogen permeation membrane, and carbon dioxide permeation membrane, which have been researched for solar thermochemical fuel generation.
