Flowsheet study of the thermochemical water-splitting iodine–sulfur process for effective hydrogen production

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is performing research and development on the thermochemical water-splitting iodine–sulfur (IS) process for hydrogen production with the use of heat (temperatures close to 1000 °C) from a nuclear reactor process plant. Such temperatures can be supplied by a High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) process. JAEA's activity covers the control of the process for continuous hydrogen production, processing procedures for hydrogen iodide (HI) decomposition, and a preliminary screening of corrosion resistant process materials. The present status of the R&D program is reported herein, with particular attention to flowsheet studies of the process using membranes for the HI processing.