DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW THERMOCHEMICAL ANDELECTROLYTIC HYBRID HYDROGEN PRODUCTION SYSTEM FORSODIUM COOLED FBR

摘要

A new thermo-chemical and electrolytic hybridrnhydrogen production system in lower temperature range isrnnewly proposed by the Japan Nuclear Cycle DevelopmentrnInstitute (JNC) to realize the hydrogen production fromrnwater by using the heat generation of sodium cooled FastrnBreeder Reactor (FBR). The system is based on sulfuricrnacid (H2SO4) synthesis and decomposition processrndeveloped earlier (Westinghouse process), and sulfurrntrioxide (SO3) decomposition process is facilitated byrnelectrolysis with ionic oxygen conductive solid electrolyternto reduce the operation temperature 200℃-300℃lowerrnthan Westinghouse process.SO3 splitting with the voltage lower than 0.5V wasrnconfirmed at about 500℃ and theoretical thermal efficiencyrnof the system evaluated based on chemical reactions wasrnwithin the range of 35% to 55% under the influence ofrnH2SO4 concentration and heat recovery.rnFurthermore, hydrogen production experiments tornsubstantiate the whole process were performed. Stablernhydrogen and oxygen production were observed in thernexperiments, and maximum duration of the experimentsrnwas about 5 hours.