| Research Article |
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Simulation of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor coupled high-temperature electrolytic large-scale hydrogen production system |
| CAO Junwen, QIN Xiangfu, HU Yikun, ZHANG Wenqiang, YU Bo, ZHANG Youjie |
| Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China |
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Abstract [Objective] The green energy system revolution is accelerating, and hydrogen plays an increasingly important role in energy systems. However, the "green hydrogen production technique" with low carbon emissions evokes increasing concern.[Methods] This article suggests using a high-temperature electrolysis hydrogen production system coupled with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), which has a heat power of 250 MW and a helium exit temperature of 750℃ or 950℃. An ASPEN simulation module of the full hydrogen production process was constructed, and the effects of the heat and electricity ratio on the hydrogen production rate and energy costs were analyzed. Based on the results, the hydrogen production costs were estimated, and cost reduction methods were discussed.[Results] The key results were as follows:1) a higher HTGR helium exit temperature resulted in a larger hydrogen production rate and lower energy costs. At 750℃, the maximum hydrogen production rate, electricity cost, heat cost, and total energy conversion efficiency of the HTGR hydrogen production system were 28 108 m3/h, 3.73 kW·h/m3, 0.49 kW·h/m3, and 40.1%, respectively. However, at 950℃, the maximum hydrogen production rate increased to 35 160 m3/h, the electricity cost fell to 3.11 kW·h/m3, the heating cost increased to 0.56 kW·h/m3, and the total energy conversion efficiency rose to 50.2%. These data fitted a system with 7 013 solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) modules, as designed in this article. 2) Increasing the current density of SOEC would significantly decrease the cost of investment in the hydrogen production system and, therefore, the hydrogen production costs. For a 950℃ HTGR hydrogen production system, if the current density rose from 1 A/cm2 to 5 A/cm2, the power density of SOEC would increase five times, and the number of SOEC modules would drop to one-fifth; therefore, the investment cost of the module would be low. Following upgrades and breakthroughs in SOEC stack integration technology, each module would contain 150 SOEC cells instead of 30, and the number of modules would fall to 281, and this would be followed by a proportional drop in the balance of plant and repairing costs. However, the calculation results also showed that when the current density increased from 1 A/cm2 to 1.5 A/cm2, the hydrogen production cost dropped from 26.1 yuan/kg to 19.4 yuan/kg, which could fulfill the demand for hydrogen energy in transportation. 3) The production of valuable chemicals from the anode is another option for increasing the value of the anode product and expanding the application of high-temperature electrolysis via nuclear energy. In addition, the cost of the hydrogen would be apportioned. We also estimated the hydrogen production cost when ethane was added to the anode to produce ethene. When the conversion rate of ethane was higher than 20%, the production cost of both systems dropped significantly. Based on the 950℃ system, the hydrogen production cost would be lower than 20 yuan/kg with an ethane conversion rate above 28%; if the ethane conversion rate approaches 100%, the hydrogen production cost would be lower than 3.8 yuan/kg.[Conclusions] The proposed HTGR high-temperature electrolysis hydrogen production system has a high hydrogen production rate, low energy costs, and huge potential for further cost reduction, meaning that this technique is eco-friendly and can be employed on a large scale.
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| Keywords
high-temperature gas-cooled reactor
high-temperature electrolysis hydrogen production
energy consumption
cost analysis of hydrogen production
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Issue Date: 22 July 2023
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2023,
Vol. 63
