Thermochemical Process Heat Requirements of the Copper-Chlorine Cycle for Nuclear-Based Hydrogen Production

Abstract

A key challenge facing the future hydrogen economy is a sustainable, lower-cost alternative to current hydrocarbon-derived technologies of hydrogen production. Nuclear-based hydrogen production with a thermochemical copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle is a promising alternative that would use nuclear heat to split water directly into oxygen and hydrogen, without indirect generation of electricity through electrolysis. Heat transfer has a paramount importance in thermal efficiency of the Cu-Cl cycle. The overall cycle includes various endothermic and exothermic reaction chambers, as well as heat exchangers that supply or recover heat to individual steps within the thermochemical cycle. Heat exchangers are typically located before and after each chemical reactor to supply fluid temperatures required for the subsequent reactions. This paper examines the heat matching between steps of the Cu-Cl cycle, in efforts to recover as much heat as possible and minimize the net heat supply to the cycle, thereby improving its overall efficiency.