(581b) Hydrogen Costs for the Pbmr Thermal Reactor and the Westinghouse Process

A study of the economics for producing hydrogen from the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and the Westinghouse Sulfur Process (WSP) was completed. These calculations used a version of the PBMR that has been designed for the production of process heat at a temperature of 700 to 900°C. Process heat is used by the WSP to perform the decomposition of the SO3 to O2 and SO2. Electricity for the WSP electrolysis step that produces hydrogen is obtained off the grid. The process heat only PBMR minimizes the capital and operating costs. It also allows the electrical energy to be obtained from the lowest cost source. While this may be from other PBMR modules that are geared to electrical only production, these other sources could include hydro, light water reactors or coal fired plants. It is estimated that this hybrid approach could produce hydrogen for as little as $1.25/kg of H2 for electrical power at $0.025/kwhr(e) from the grid and $0.008/kwhr(t) from a PBMR.