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Hydrogen Production and Uses
(Updated September 2020)

Hydrogen directly from nuclear heat
Several direct thermochemical processes are being developed for producing hydrogen from water. For economic production, high temperatures are required to ensure rapid throughput and high conversion efficiencies. They essentially do not use electricity.
In each of the leading thermochemical processes the high-temperature (800-1000°C), low-pressure endothermic (heat absorbing) decomposition of sulfuric acid produces oxygen and sulfur dioxide:
2H2SO4 ? 2H2O + 2SO2 + O2
There are then several possibilities. In the iodine-sulfur (IS) process invented by General Atomics in the 1970s, iodine combines with the SO2 and water to produce hydrogen iodide. This is the Bunsen reaction and is exothermic, occurring at low temperature (120°C):
I2 + SO2 + 2H2O ? 2HI + H2SO4
The HI then dissasociates to hydrogen and iodine at about 350-450°C, endothermically:
2HI ? H2 + I2
This can deliver hydrogen at high pressure.
Combining all this, the net reaction is then:
2H2O ? 2H2 + O2
All the reagents other than water are recycled, there are no effluents, hence it may be called the sulfur-iodine cycle, with zero-carbon hydrogen and oxygen byproducts.
In February 2010 the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) set up the HTGR Hydrogen and Heat Application Research Centre at Oarai to progress operational technology for an IS plant to make hydrogen thermochemically. It has demonstrated laboratory-scale and bench-scale hydrogen production with the IS process, up to 30 litres/h. In parallel with JAEA’s HTTR developments a pilot plant test project producing hydrogen at 30 m3/h from helium heated with 400 kW tested the engineering feasibility of the IS process. An IS plant producing 1000 m3/h (90 kg/h, 2t/day) of hydrogen was to be linked to the HTTR to confirm the performance of an integrated production system, envisaged for the 2020s. In 2014 hydrogen production at up to 20 L/h was demonstrated. In January 2019 it used the HTTR to produce hydrogen using the iodine-sulfur process over 150 hours of continuous operation. JAEA aims to produce hydrogen at less than $3/kg by about 2030 with very high temperature reactors.
The US Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) launched in 1999 was refocused in 2004 to include the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative (NHI), allied to the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) programme established in 2005. NGNP envisaged construction and operation of a prototype high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR) and associated electricity or hydrogen production facilities by 2021, but funding was cut back under the Obama administration and prelicensing activities were suspended in 2013.
Under an International NERI agreement, Sandia National Laboratories in the USA and the French CEA with General Atomics in the USA were also developing the IS process with a view to using high-temperature reactors for it. They had built and operated a laboratory-scale loop for thermochemical water-splitting.
South Korea has also demonstrated thermochemical water-splitting at laboratory scale, supported by General Atomics. In December 2008, the ROK Atomic Energy Commission officially approved nuclear hydrogen development as a national programme, with the development of key and basic technologies through 2017 and the goal of demonstrating nuclear hydrogen production using the S-I process and a very high-temperature reactor (VHTR) by 2026.
The economics of hydrogen production depend on the efficiency of the method used. The IS cycle coupled to a modular high temperature reactor is expected to produce hydrogen at about $2.00/kg. The oxygen byproduct also has value. General Atomics earlier projected $1.53/kg based on a 2400 MWt HTR operating at 850°C with 42% overall efficiency, and $1.42/kg at 950°C and 52% efficiency (both 10.5% discount rate). Such a plant could produce 800 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
For thermochemical processes an overall efficiency of greater than 50% is projected.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/energy-and-the-environment/hydrogen-production-and-uses.aspx
https://www.iaea.org/topics/non-electric-applications/nuclear-hydrogen-production

Quote:
With a capacity of nearly 30 tons of hydrogen per day, the plant will be able to fuel 35,000 fuel-cell electric vehicles, per the release. California is expected to have 40,000 FCEVs by 2022, per Air Liquide. Additionally, the plant will “support other fuel cell vehicle and transportation markets in the region, such as material handling and forklifts and heavy duty trucks,” per the release.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=158685551

Quote:
The economics of hydrogen production depend on the efficiency of the method used. The IS cycle coupled to a modular high temperature reactor is expected to produce hydrogen at about $2.00/kg. The oxygen byproduct also has value. General Atomics earlier projected $1.53/kg based on a 2400 MWt HTR operating at 850°C with 42% overall efficiency, and $1.42/kg at 950°C and 52% efficiency (both 10.5% discount rate). Such a plant could produce 800 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
For thermochemical processes an overall efficiency of greater than 50% is projected.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=158692587

at 800 tonnes/day or 881.85 tons that would be able to fuel 1028825 fuel-cell electric vehicles, per/day at a price of $1.42/kg and that's for 1 nuclear power plant
or $23.14 to fill up your fcv for a distance of 400 miles......

8 Things You Need To Know About Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars
Plug-Free Electric Vehicles Are on the Way
Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have been around a while, but their introduction to car shoppers has long been held back by a chicken-or-egg dilemma: A successful retail launch of fuel-cell electric cars and SUVs requires a retail fueling system. And when was the last time you saw a hydrogen station?

Well, fuel-cell vehicles — and the stations that will power them — are about to become part of the landscape, a mere 12 years after American Honda began leasing a handful of hand-built cars to the city of Los Angeles.

The cars and stations will be a limited presence at first, confined to select areas of Southern California. But if some of the world's major automakers and the U.S. and various state governments have anything to say about it, the stations ultimately will spread throughout the nation's urban areas.
https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars.html

Hydrogen Fuel Cars vs Hybrid Cars vs Gasoline Cars Efficiency
Hydrogen Fuel Cars
Hydrogen fuel cars use hydrogen fuel cells to generate power. There are various chemical reactions which take place in these fuel cells to create power for the vehicle. Each fuel cell contains oxygen and hydrogen, and it can produce power for an indefinite amount of time. The fuel efficiency of a fuel cell car is far greater than gasoline efficiency.

Fuel cells exist inside the engine of a hydrogen car. There is about a 64% rate of efficiency with each fuel cell. Compare this to the 20% conversion rate of gasoline energy, and you’ll notice a big difference. Overall, you can get up to 93 miles per gallon from a hydrogen car versus an average of 35 miles per gallon from a gasoline car. So, there is no doubt that hydrogen cars are more fuel efficient. The only problem is that only a limited number of charging stations exist. Fortunately, you don’t need to charge them very often.
https://autocartimes.com/hydrogen-fuel-cars-vs-hybrid-cars-vs-gasoline-cars-efficiency/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20you%20can%20get%20up%20to%2093%20miles,doubt%20that%20hydrogen%20cars%20are%20more%20fuel%20efficient.

How long will a hydrogen fuel cell last?

H2 fuel cells currently in production have a life expectancy of from 5,000 to 10,000 hours. If we apply that to an average driving speed of 45 mph (a combination of in-town on highway driving), we should expect to get 225,000 to 450,000 miles.

That is comparable to the lifetime (between rebuilds) of modern internal combustion engines (ICEs), depending on various factors.

Fuel cell vehicles operate at much higher efficiency levels than ICEs (approximately 3X). That means the value of Hydrogen and gasoline are equivalent when the price per kg of H2 is about 3 times the price per gallon of gasoline.

There are additional benefits as well. If the H2 is produced by splitting water with energy obtained from renewable sources, such as wind turbines, then the entire fuel cycle is sustainable indefinitely, with no production of CO2.
https://www.quora.com/How-long-will-fuel-cells-for-hydrogen-cars-last