Hydrogen production methods efficiency coupled to an advanced high-temperature accelerator driven system

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2019-01, Vol.44 (3), p.1392-1408
• Main Authors: González Rodríguez, Daniel, Brayner de Oliveira Lira, Carlos Alberto, García Hernández, Carlos Rafael, Roberto de Andrade Lima, Fernando
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADS; Cost estimative; Efficiency; HTE; Nuclear hydrogen production; Sulfur-iodine
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.11.083

Hydrogen, rather than oil, must be produced in volumes not provided by the currently employed methods. In this work, two high-temperature hydrogen production methods coupled with an advanced nuclear system are presented. A new design of a pebble-bed accelerator nuclear-driven system called TADSEA (Transmutation Advanced Device for Sustainable Energy Applications) was chosen because of the advantages in transmutation and safety. A detailed flowsheet of the high-temperature electrolysis process coupled to TADSEA through a Brayton gas cycle was developed using chemical process simulation software: Aspen HYSYS®. It is obtained 0.1627 kg/s of hydrogen with the model with optimized operating conditions, resulting in an overall process efficiency of 34.51%, a value in the range of results reported by other authors. A conceptual design of a plant using the iodine-sulfur thermochemical water splitting cycle was carried out producing 5.66e-2 kg/s and electric energy in cogeneration. The overall efficiency was calculated performing an energy balance resulting in 22.56%. A brief hydrogen production cost estimation was performed for both methods obtaining 5.96$/kg for the sulfur-iodine (SI) and 4.8 $/kg for the high-temperature electrolysis (HTE) process. •A conceptual design model for the SI cycle and the HTE process coupled to the TADSEA is developed.•The proposed model for the SI process produce 5,66e-2 kg/s with an efficiency of 22,56%.•The proposed flowsheet for the HTE process produces 0.1627 kg/s with a global energy efficiency of 34,51%.•The cost estimation for both methods (SI and HTE) showed 5.96 $/kg and 4.8 $/kg respectively.•Both hydrogen production methods are suitable for their implementation coupled to TADSEA.