Conceptual development and analysis of multiple integrated hydrogen production plants with Cu-Cl cycle

Abstract

This thesis develops and analyzes four hydrogen production integrated energy systems, where hydrogen is produced via hybrid electrical and thermochemical water decomposition cycle, based on the chemical couple Cu-Cl. The first system consists of coal gasifier, membrane shift reactor, hydrogen fueled combined cycle, cryogenic air separation unit, compression system and five-step Cu-Cl cycle. The second system consists of SCWR, hydrogen fueled combined cycle, compression system and five-step Cu-Cl cycle. The third system consists of solar heliostat steam generator, Rankine cycle, compression system and five-step Cu-Cl cycle. The fourth system consists of SCWR, four-step Cu-Cl cycle, Rankine cycle and compression system. Modeling the developed systems is carried out using Aspen Plus, Aspen Hysys, and EES. The systems are assessed thermodynamically based on the energy and exergy efficiencies. The results show that the integration of nuclear reactor SCWR with the four-step copper and chlorine cycle is a promising integration in terms of energy and exergy efficiencies.