HycycleS: a project on nuclear and solar hydrogen production by sulphur-based thermochemical cycles

Abstract

Abstract:The European FP7 project HycycleS focuses on providing detailed solutions for the design of specific key components for sulphur-based thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production. The key components necessary for the high temperature part of those processes, the thermal decomposition of H 2 SO 4 , are a compact heat exchanger for SO 3 decomposition for operation by solar and nuclear heat, a receiver-reactor for solar H 2 SO 4 decomposition, and membranes as product separator and as promoter of the SO 3 decomposition. Silicon carbide has been identified as the preferred construction material. Its stability is tested at high temperature and in a highly corrosive atmosphere. Another focus is catalyst materials for the reduction of SO 3 . Requirement specifications were set up as basis for design and sizing of the intended prototypes. Rigs for corrosion tests, catalyst tests and selectivity of separation membranes have been designed, built and completed. Prototypes of the mentioned components have been designed and tested.Keywords: sulphur; catalyst; silicon carbide; membranes; thermochemical cycle.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Roeb, M., Thomey, D., Graf, D., Sattler, C., Poitou, S., Pra, F., Tochon, P., Mansilla, C., Robin, J-C., Le Naour, F., Allen, R.W.K., Elder, R., Atkin, I., Karagiannakis, G., Agrafiotis, C., Konstandopoulos, A.G., Musella, M., Haehner, P., Giaconia, A., Sau, S., Tarquini, P., Haussener, S., Steinfeld, A., Martinez, S., Canadas, I., Orden, A., Ferrato, M., Hinkley, J., Lahoda, E. and Wong, B. (2011) 'HycycleS: a project on nuclear and solar hydrogen production by sulphur-based thermochemical cycles ', Int. J. Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications, Vol. 2, No. 3, Sabine Poitou studied Chemical Engineering at ENSIC (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques) in the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (1991Lorraine ( -1994. Working at the CEA since 1998 as Research Engineer, she was involved on nuclear waste treatment and conditioning studies until 2007. Since 2008, her activity has concentrated on industrial development of hydrogen production with nuclear reactor coupled processes. George Karagiannakis received his PhD in Chem. Eng., at the Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki, Greece. He has been an Affiliated Researcher at APTL since 2006 and a member of the Nanoparticles and Catalysts Group. He has expertise in catalytic and electrocatalytic studies, with emphasis in those involving hydrogen productions. He has participated in several national and EU research projects.Christos Agrafiotis is a Principal Researcher at CPERI, Chemical Engineer. He received his PhD in Chem. Eng., from SUNY, Buffalο, USΑ. He has more than 15 years of expertise in powder synthesis and catalytic coating of monolithic reactors, participated in several EU-and nationally-funded research projects in these areas, and he is the author of more than 40 relevant publications in international journals and proceedings. Athanasios Konstandopoulos is the Director of APTL and C...

Raman and inelastic neutron scattering spectra of (NH4)2SO3, an intermediate for solar hydrogen production

“…European research projects such as HYTHEC and HYCYCLES have focused on studying the Sulfur-Iodine cycle and the Hybrid Sulfur cycle, respectively [1,2]. An innovative photothermochemical cycle within the same family has been developed: the sulfur-ammonia (S-NH3) cycle [3,4].…”

Modeling of a Solar Receiver for Superheating Sulfuric Acid

“…Foundations of the current analysis have also been completed as part of the predecessor European Union project HycycleS [20]. Previous work included modeling direct radiation and LTNE in a receiver-reactor [21] and coupling of continuum models with pore-scale property determination [22].…”

Development and test of a solar reactor for decomposition of sulphuric acid in thermochemical hydrogen production

“…In the European research project HycycleS (Materials and components for Hydrogen production by sulphur based thermochemical cycles) [7] materials and technical applications for realisation of the Hybrid Sulphur Cycle were developed and analysed. Major task is the construction of a test reactor for decomposition of sulphuric acid and its operation in the solar furnace of DLR in Cologne.…”