Direct contact sulfuric acid concentration test for thermochemical IS process

Noguchi, Hiroki  ; Kubo, Shinji  ; Onuki, Kaoru

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting R&D on thermo-chemical Iodine-Sulfur (IS) process, which is one of most attractive water-splitting hydrogen production methods using nuclear heat of a high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). Direct contact heat exchanger (DCHX) is considered to apply for sulfuric acid concentration. DCHX is a contactor between low temperature fluid and high temperature fluid. It have several advantages over surface-type heat exchanger in terms of its simple structure and efficient heat exchange due to lager heat transfer surface area and no surface fouling to deteriorate the heat transfer. This paper discusses an experimental method for the measurement of mass transfer coefficient of HSO and HO, which is an important factor for the optimum design of DCHX.