Hydrolysis of Zn is investigated as the second step in a redox solar water splitting process. Zinc is evaporated and hydrolyzed with steam in a hot wall flow tubular reactor. The influence of the reactor temperature distribution and residence time on hydrogen conversion was measured for furnace set point temperatures of and . The yield of ZnO aerosol was measured in situ using a scanning differential mobility sizer. The composition and morphology of the solid product were characterized with X-ray diffraction and microscopy. Hydrogen conversions of 87–96% at temperatures above zinc saturation are attributed primarily to hydrolysis of zinc(g) at the wall of the reactor at temperatures from .
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.Copyright © 2008
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