Patent ID: 7943045

Claim:
A device for the thermal separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, comprising a closed reaction chamber containing water and in said reaction chamber: a heating system comprising a heat source element, said heat source element being a thermoreceptor for receiving concentrated solar radiation; one or more membranes, essentially gas-tight, being selectively permeable for oxygen; one or more membranes, essentially gas-tight, being selectively permeable for hydrogen; and a mechanism for inducing water into the said reactor reaction chamber, characterized in that the said heat source element are located in the water inside the said reaction chamber; the temperature distribution in the reaction chamber is predetermined and comprises: zones where the temperature is high enough such that the water in these zones is at least partially dissociated and that these zones are large enough to contain the said membranes being selective for oxygen; lower temperature zones which are large enough to contain the said membranes being selective for hydrogen, wherein the said lower temperatures correspond to the operating conditions of the membrane materials, and wherein said temperature distribution is obtained and controlled by the heating power, by a cooling of the walls of the reaction chamber, by the positioning of the membranes and by the distance(s) between the heat source element and the walls of the reaction chamber, and wherein the said membranes being selective for oxygen are located in the said high temperature zones, and wherein the said membranes being selective for hydrogen are located in the said low temperature zones.