Life cycle assessment of ISPRA Mark 9 thermochemical cycle for nuclear hydrogen production

✍ Scribed by Vivek Utgikar; Bradley Ward

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 146 KB
• Volume: 81
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-2575
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.1598

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The nuclear energy driven thermochemical cycle is one of the potential water‐splitting processes for producing hydrogen, presumed to be the transportation fuel of the future. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of one such system, which utilizes nuclear energy to drive the ISPRA Mark 9 thermochemical cycle, is presented in this paper. The results of the LCA are presented in terms of the emissions of greenhouse gases (CO~2~‐equivalent) and acid gases (SO~2~‐equivalent). The contributions of the thermochemical plant to the emissions were determined through the estimation of material and energy requirements for chemical inventory, raw materials consumption and plant fabrication/installation. The greenhouse gas emissions from the system are 2515 g CO~2~‐equivalent kg^−1^ H~2~ produced and acid gas emissions 11.252 g SO~2~‐equivalent kg^−1^ H~2~ produced. A comparison of this hydrogen production route with other routes, including steam reforming of methane and high‐temperature electrolysis, is also presented in the paper. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry