Sustainable steel production with co-generation of hydrogen

A system comprising:

• a particle receiver containing a heat transfer fluid comprising a plurality of solid particles, the particle receiver configured to receive and concentrate solar energy and transfer the concentrated solar energy to the heat transfer fluid to heat the heat transfer fluid;
• a furnace coupled to the particle receiver, the furnace comprising a housing configured to receive a metal feedstock comprising metal, the housing configured to transfer heat from the heat transfer fluid to the metal feedstock to melt the metal, the housing comprising an inlet port configured to inject an oxidizing stream comprising oxygen into the housing to oxidize at least a portion of the melted metal to form steel;
• a power generation unit downstream of the furnace, the power generation unit configured to receive a first portion of the heat transfer fluid from the furnace, the power generation unit comprising:
• a heat exchanger configured to transfer heat from the first portion of the heat transfer fluid to a working fluid;
• and
• a turbine generator in fluid communication with the heat exchanger, the turbine generator configured to receive the working fluid that has been heated by the heat exchanger, the turbine generator configured to generate electrical power as the working fluid expands through the turbine generator;
• an electrolytic cell electrically coupled to the turbine generator, the electrolytic cell configured to receive a first water stream, the electrolytic cell configured to utilize the electrical power generated by the turbine generator to electrolyze the first water stream into a first oxygen stream and a first hydrogen stream;
• and
• a reactor downstream of the furnace, the reactor comprising a recycling agent, the reactor configured to receive a second portion of the heat transfer fluid from the furnace, the reactor configured to receive a second water stream, the reactor configured to transfer heat from the second portion of the heat transfer fluid to the recycling agent and the second water stream to thermochemically split the second water stream into a second oxygen stream and a second hydrogen stream.