Analysis of the viability of the 2 x 250 MWth HTR-PM project for the hydrogen production by the high temperature electrolysis and the Cu-Cl cycle

The work describes two proposals for hydrogen production using the HTR-PM reactor as an energy source. Both proposals take advantage of the high output temperatures of the 2 x 250 MWth HTR-PM project to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production processes. Two proposals are analysed, the hydrogen production through the Cu-Cl cycle and the high temperature electrolysis process. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed conceptual designs, two computational models were developed in a chemical process simulator. A determination of the efficiency of the hydrogen production process coupled to the HTR-PM was carried out using the computational model developed. The high temperature electrolysis (HTE) process can produce 0.7821 kg/s of hydrogen with 27.37% of efficiency. The Cu-Cl process, although producing less hydrogen, 0.5637 kg/s, has higher overall efficiency (32.12%) than the HTE, mainly due to less global exergy destruction and higher exergetic efficiency.