Nuclear Hydrogen Production through a Novel Cobalt-Chlorine Water-Splitting Thermochemical Cycle

CRISTIAN A. CANAVESIO; DANIELA NASSINI; HORACIO E.P. NASSINI; BOHE, ANA ESTER

Viena

Workshop; Technical Meeting ?On the Role of Nuclear Hydrogen Production in a Low Carbon Economy; 2019

International Atomic Energy Agency

It is well-understood that hydrogen as an energy carrier will have a significant role for sustainable energy supply in the future since the current dependence on fossil fuels is not sustainable because the resources of oil, gas, and coal are known to be finite and their intensive use produces serious climatic effects, i.e. global warming and acid rain. However, almost 95% of the current world´s hydrogen production is provided by fossil fuels, mainly by steam-methane reforming process, and this situation must be changed soon if the energy and environmental challenges are required to match in a clean, efficient, safe and reliable way.Sustainable hydrogen economy requires innovative hydrogen production methods from carbon-free energy sources and, in this regard, water is expected to become a major source for hydrogen in the future with the necessary process heat or electricity for separating the hydrogen molecules to be provided by renewable or nuclear energy sources. Nowadays, nuclear energy has been mostly used at large-scale for electric power generation but the direct utilization of nuclear thermal energy as a process heat source is expected to increase the energy efficiency and, then, to produce significant energy savings.