IS Process Hydrogen Production Test for Components and System Made of Industrial Structural Material (II) - H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} decomposition, HI Distillation, and HI Decomposition Section - 18629
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting research and development on the thermochemical iodine sulfur (IS) process for nuclear-powered hydrogen production. The IS process is one of the promising candidates of heat application of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors. The IS process consists of three chemical reactions: Bunsen reaction, hydriodic acid (HI) decomposition and sulfuric acid (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) decomposition. It is necessary for component materials to have high corrosion resistance because high-temperature strong acids such as HI and H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} are used in the IS process. JAEA, so far, achieved to produce hydrogen for one week continuously with a hydrogen production rate of approximately 30 NL/h by a test apparatus made of glass and fluoro-resin material. As a next step toward practical application, we test-fabricated main components, that is, Bunsen reactor, sulfuric acid decomposer, and HI decomposer, made of industrial materials and investigated their integrity in the practical corrosive environments of the IS process. Based on their results, we have constructed a 100 NL/h-H{sub 2}-scale test apparatus made of industrial materials. This test apparatus is divided by chemical reaction and unit operation into five sections: Bunsen section, H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} decomposition section, HI concentration section, HI distillation section, and HI decomposition section. First, we investigated performance of components in each section. This report discusses test results of the H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} decomposition section, HI distillation section, and HI decomposition section. (authors)