Recent Progress in the Development of the CuCl/HCl Electrolysis Reaction for Nuclear Hydrogen Production

Abstract

The hybrid Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycle is being developed in Canada for nuclear hydrogen production.  The Cu-Cl cycle consists of both chemical and electrochemical reaction steps.  Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) has been focusing on the development of the electrochemical reaction step.  The energy required by the Cu-Cl cycle can be supplied by the Super Critical Water Reactor (SCWR), under development at AECL, since the highest temperature required by the Cu-Cl cycle is 530 °C.This paper will mainly focus on recent progress that has been made at AECL towards the development of the CuCl/HCl electrolyzer.  In order to assess the progress that has been made the performance of the electrolyzer will be evaluated by examining the time dependence of the cell voltage.