(51c) Thermochemical Cycles for the Production of Hydrogen from Water Using Nuclear Energy

Thermochemical reaction cycles powered by heat derived from nuclear energy have the potential for production of a significant fraction of the fuel required for the hydrogen economy. This paper will review the state of the science and engineering and the technical barriers that are being addressed by ongoing work sponsored by the Department of Energy. The main focus of the current DOE sponsored work is on the sulfur iodine cycle, but the hybrid sulfur process and the calcium bromine cycle are also being evaluated for potential scale up in the 2012 time frame. Interest continues in identifying alternative cycles as well that may have some advantages by use of less corrosive chemicals, simpler reaction engineering, higher efficiencies, and ultimately lower cost of hydrogen production. The status of these efforts and future scale up plans and challenges will be discussed.