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The importance of methane conversion, syngas selectivity, and oxidizer conversion for efficient syngas production by the partial oxidation of methane using a metal oxide redox cycle is quantified. The operating conditions which enable high conversion of methane to syngas over cerium oxide and conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide in the subsequent oxidation reaction are identified experimentally. The parametric study considers operating temperatures of 900 and 1000°C and methane flow rates from 1 to 15 mL min-1 g-1 in a fixed bed of porous ceria particles. The reduced ceria is reoxidized in a flow of 10 mL min-1 g-1 CO 2 to produce CO. A trade-off of achieving high methane conversion is observed. For example, at 1000°C, the cycleaveraged methane conversion increases from 13% for reduction in 15 mL min-1 g-1 to 60% in 1 mL min-1 g-1. For the same change in methane flow rate, the cycle-averaged selectivities decrease from 78% to 39% (CO) and 77% to 40% (H 2) and the oxidizer conversion decreases from 93% to 48%. The maximum projected solar-to-fuel thermal efficiency is 27% for cycling at 1000°C with reduction in 5 mL min-1 g-1 methane.

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A Capstone C30 MicroTurbine has been installed, instrumented, and utilized in a junior-level laboratory course at Valparaiso University. The C30 MicroTurbine experiment enables Valparaiso University to educate students interested in power generation and turbine technology. The first goal of this experiment is for students to explore a gas turbine generator and witness the discrepancies between idealized models and real thermodynamic systems. Secondly, students measure and analyze data to determine where losses occur in a real gas turbine. The third educational goal is for students to recognize the true costs associated with natural gas use, i.e. the hidden costs of transporting the gas to the consumer. Overall, the gas turbine experiment has garnered positive feedback from students. The twenty-six students who performed the lab in Spring 2014 rated the quality and usefulness of the gas turbine experiment as 4.28 and 4.19, respectively, on a 1-5 Likert scale, where 1 is low and 5 is high.