Hydrogen production using thermochemical water-splitting iodine-sulfur process test facility made of industrial structural materials; Engineering solutions to prevent iodine precipitation

Noguchi, Hiroki  ; Kamiji, Yu; Tanaka, Nobuyuki ; Takegami, Hiroaki ; Iwatsuki, Jin ; Kasahara, Seiji  ; Myagmarjav, O.  ; Imai, Yoshiyuki  ; Kubo, Shinji  

An iodine-sulfur process offers the potential for mass producing hydrogen with high-efficiency, and it uses high-temperature heat sources, including HTGR, solar heat, and waste heat of industries. R&D tasks are essential to confirm the integrity of the components that are made of industrial materials and the stability of hydrogen production in harsh working conditions. A test facility for producing hydrogen was constructed from corrosion-resistant components made of industrial materials. For stable hydrogen production, technical issues for instrumental improvements (i.e., stable pumping of the HIx solution, improving the quality control of glass-lined steel, prevention of I precipitation using a water removal technique in a Bunsen reactor) were solved. The entire process was successfully operated for 150 h at the rate of 30 L/h. The integrity of components and the operational stability of the hydrogen production facility in harsh working conditions were demonstrated.