Nuclear-based hydrogen production with a thermochemical copper-chlorine cycle and supercritical water reactor: equipment scale-up and process simulation

TLDR

The study addresses equipment scale‑up and process simulation challenges for a copper–chlorine thermochemical hydrogen cycle powered by Canada’s proposed Generation IV super‑critical water‑cooled reactor. The article aims to delineate the challenges and design issues of integrating a Cu‑Cl hydrogen cycle with Canadian nuclear reactors. The authors model the Cu‑Cl cycle, wherein water is split into hydrogen and oxygen through intermediate Cu‑Cl species, using Aspen Plus to evaluate cycle efficiency and potential improvements. The simulation results inform the development of a laboratory‑scale Cu‑Cl cycle demonstration at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Issues related to equipment scale-up and process simulation are described for a thermochemical cycle driven by nuclear heat from Canada's proposed Generation IV reactor (Super-Critical Water-Cooled Reactor; SCWR), which is a CANDU derivative using supercritical water cooling. The copper–chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle has been identified by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited as the most promising cycle for thermochemical hydrogen production with SCWR. Water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen through intermediate Cu-Cl compounds. This article outlines the challenges and design issues of hydrogen production with a Cu-Cl cycle coupled to Canada's nuclear reactors. The processes are simulated using the Aspen Plus process simulation code, allowing the cycle efficiency and possible efficiency improvements to be examined. The results are useful to assist the development of a lab-scale cycle demonstration, which is currently being undertaken at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in collaboration with numerous partners. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.