Melcor-H2 transient analysis of sulfur-iodine cycle experiments
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abstract
MELCOR is a thermalhydraulic code used by the US and the international nuclear community for the modeling of both light water and gas-cooled reactors. MELCOR was extended in order to model nuclear reactors that are coupled to the sulfur iodine (SI) cycle for cogeneration of hydrogen. This version of the code is known as MELCOR-H2, and it includes modular secondary system components (e.g. turbines, compressors, heat exchangers, and generators), a point kinetics model, and a graphical user interface. MELCOR-H2 allows for the fully coupled, transient analysis and design of the nuclear/thermochemical SI cycle for the purpose of maximizing the production of hydrogen and electricity. Recent work has demonstrated that the hydrogen generation rate calculated by MELCOR-H2 for the SI cycle was within the expected theoretical yield. In order to benchmark MELCOR-H2, we simulated a set of sulfuric acid decomposition experiments that were conducted at Sandia National Laboratories during 2006. We also used MELCOR-H2 to simulate a 2004 Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute SI experiment. The simulations compared favorably with both experiments; most measured and calculated output were within 10%. The simulations adequately calculated O 2, SO 2, and H 2 production rate, acid conversion efficiency, the relationship between solution mole % and conversion efficiency, and the relationship between molar flow rate and efficiency.
American Nuclear Society Embedded Topical Meeting - 2007 International Topical Meeting on Safety and Technology of Nuclear Hydrogen Production, Control, and Management
author list (cited authors)
Rodriguez, S. B., Louie, D., Gauntt, R. O., Gelbard, F., Cole, R., McFadden, K., ... Vierow, K.
