Youssef Benmoussa Sun thermochemical water splitting is a technique of creating hydrogen fuel by heating a chemical reactor using concentrated solar energy. This procedure may be carried out utilizing a variety of solar collectors, including parabolic trough collectors.

Mirrors are used to reflect and focus sunlight onto a central receiver tube in parabolic trough collectors, a kind of concentrated solar power technology. The concentrated solar energy is then utilized to heat a fluid, which generates steam and drives a turbine, which generates electricity. This concentrated solar energy may also be utilized to heat a chemical reactor in order to perform thermochemical water splitting.

While much research on solar thermochemical water splitting has focused on solar tower or parabolic dish systems, parabolic trough collectors can also be employed for this purpose. In reality, some research has looked at the use of parabolic trough collectors for thermochemical water splitting and discovered that they can be a feasible choice for producing hydrogen fuel.

Although the efficiency of solar thermochemical water splitting utilizing parabolic trough collectors may not be as great as that of solar tower or parabolic dish systems, this technology may be more cost-effective and easier to run on a wider scale. Furthermore, study on this topic is currently continuing, and additional advances may emerge in the future.

Have a look at this articles as well: Chapter The Review of Studies on Scheffler Solar Reflectors

According to the information contained in the paper entitled "Hydrogen Production: Thermochemical Water Splitting," prepared by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, thermochemical water splitting uses high temperatures—from concentrated solar power or the waste heat of nuclear power reactions—and chemical reactions to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water. This long-term technology pathway has potentially low or no greenhouse gas emissions.

How Does It Work?

Thermochemical water-splitting processes use high-temperature heat (500°–2,000°C) to drive a series of chemical reactions that produce hydrogen. The chemicals used in the process are reused within each cycle, creating a closed loop that consumes only water and produces hydrogen and oxygen. The necessary high temperatures can be generated in the following ways:

• Concentrating sunlight onto a reactor tower using a field of mirror "heliostats,"
• Using waste heat from advanced nuclear reactors.

Numerous solar thermochemical water-splitting cycles have been investigated for hydrogen production, each with different operating conditions, engineering challenges, and hydrogen production opportunities. Typically direct cycles are less complex with fewer steps, but they require higher operating temperatures compared with the more complicated hybrid cycles. More than 300 water-splitting cycles are described in the literature. For more information, see Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production Research: Thermochemical Cycle Selection and Investment Priority.

Why Is This Pathway Being Considered?

Because solar- and nuclear-driven high-temperature thermochemical water-splitting cycles produce hydrogen with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions using water and either sunlight or nuclear energy.

Challenges remain, however, in the research, development, and demonstration of commercially viable thermochemical cycles and reactors:

• The efficiency and durability of reactant materials for thermochemical cycling need to be improved.
• Efficient and robust reactor designs compatible with high temperatures and heat cycling need to be developed.
• The cost of concentrating mirror systems needs to be reduced for solar thermochemical systems.

Exciting progress continues in this field, leveraging synergies with concentrated solar power technologies and emerging solar-fuel production technologies.

To my knowledge, Some universities like ETH Zurich are already working on it and have made major remarks on it. I think it will be great if you go through their websites

Theoretically, it sounds possible.

Dear Dr Youssef Benmoussa you could see the attached paper,

It is a good guidance for your concern:

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