Nuclear Energy for Hydrogen Production

Verfondern, Karl

Book	PreJuSER-58871

Nuclear Energy for Hydrogen Production

Verfondern, K. (Editor)FZJ*

2007
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag Jülich
ISBN: 978-3-89336-468-8

Jülich : Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag, Schriften des Forschungszentrums Jülich. Reihe Energietechnik / Energy Technology 58, 185 S. (2007)

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/2518

Abstract: With the recent worldwide increased interest in hydrogen as a clean fuel of the future, Europe has also embarked on comprehensive research, development, and demonstration activities with the main objective of the transition from a fossil towards a CO$_{2}$ emission free energy structure as the ultimate goal. A major hydrogen economy exists already today and is expected to grow further. Largest near-term markets will be the petrochemical industries requiring massive amounts of H$_{2}$ for the conversion of heavy oils, tar sands, and other low-grade hydrocarbons, as well as the fertilizer and steel industries. In the near and medium term, fossil fuels are expected to remain the principal source for hydrogen. In the long term, H$_{2}$ production technologies will be strongly focusing on CO2-neutral or CO$_{2}$-free methods. Nuclear with its virtually no air-borne pollutants emissions appears to be an ideal option for large-scale centralized H$_{2}$ production. It will be driven by major factors such as production rates of fossil fuels, political decisions on greenhouse gas emissions, energy security and independence of foreign oil uncertainties, or the economics of large-scale hydrogen production and transmission. A nuclear reactor operated in the heat and power cogeneration mode must be located in close vicinity to the consumer’s site, i.e., it must have a convincing safety concept of the combined nuclear/ chemical production plant. A near-term option of nuclear hydrogen production which is readily available is conventional low temperature electrolysis using cheap off-peak electricity from present nuclear power plants. This, however, is available only if the share of nuclear in power production is large. But as fossil fuel prices will increase, the use of nuclear outside base-load becomes more attractive. Nuclear steam reforming is another important near-term option for both the industrial and the transportation sector, since principal technologies were developed, with a saving potential of some 35 % of methane feedstock. Competitiveness will benefit from increasing cost level of natural gas. The HTGR heated steam reforming process which was simulated in pilot plants both in Germany and Japan, appears to be feasible for industrial application around 2015. A CO$_{2}$ emission free option is high temperature electrolysis which reduces the electricity needs up to about 30 % and could make use of high temperature heat and steam from an HTGR. With respect to thermochemical water splitting cycles, the processes which are receiving presently most attention are the sulfur-iodine, the Westinghouse hybrid, and the calcium-bromine (UT-3) cycles. Efficiencies of the S-I process are in the range of 33-36 %, if operated at 950°C which is judged as a feasible upper temperature limit for the reactor and related heat transfer devices. Process optimization and material qualification still require considerable R&D efforts beyond 2015 with regard to the potential of higher efficiencies and more compact chemical reactors to be optimized for commercial use. Technical and economical feasibility, however, remains to be demonstrated; since production processes have not yet been tested beyond pilot plant scale. A new, perhaps revolutionary nuclear reactor concept of the next generation will offer the chance to deliver besides the classical electricity also non-electrical products such as hydrogen or other fuels (e.g., methanol). In a future energy economy, hydrogen as a storable medium could adjust a variable demand for electricity by means of fuel cell power plants (“hydricity”) and also serve as spinning reserve. Both together offer much more flexibility in optimizing energy structures. In China, France, Japan, Korea, and the USA, ambitious programs have been started within the GIF initiative with the main objective to bring nuclear hydrogen production to the energy market. In the European Union, a respective engagement by research, industry, and policy is mainly given by the participation in activities within the Framework Programmes (FP) of the EU.

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