Simultaneous production of pink and grey hydrogen using high-temperature (HT) gas-cooled nuclear reactors coupled with HT-electrolyzer and gas reforming unit

This study reports a novel system that utilizes a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) coupled with a high-temperature (HT)-electrolyzer system and a natural gas (NG) reforming unit to simultaneously produce two types of hydrogen: pink and grey. The 600 MW (heat) HTGR/HT-electrolyzer system produced pink hydrogen and oxygen as by-products. Meanwhile, grey hydrogen can be produced by reforming NG using electricity, water vapor and/or oxygen produced in the HTGR system. Detailed and rigorous energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analyses show that the HTGR/HT-electrolyzer with reformer produces more than 3.04 kg/s of pink and grey hydrogen. The proposed system produces pink and grey hydrogen at a unit cost 40% lower compared to producing pink hydrogen alone, as it produces more than twice as much hydrogen as the HTGR/HT-electrolyzer system. This study demonstrates that the proposed system offers a cost-effective solution for hydrogen production with a reduced carbon footprint.