The development of autocatalytic structural materials for use in the sulfur-iodine process for the production of hydrogen

The Sulfur-Iodine Cycle for the thermochemical production of hydrogen offers many benefits to traditional methods of hydrogen production. As opposed to steam methane reforming - the most prevalent method of hydrogen production today - there are no carbon dioxide emissions. Compared to other methods of hydrogen production, the efficiency of the cycle is excellent. Due to the high temperatures necessary for the cycle, which are generally greater than 8500C, several of the Generation IV nuclear reactor concepts are attractive thermal energy sources. However, the high temperature and corrosive reaction conditions of the cycle, involving reactions including the decomposition of H2SO4 at 400-9000C, present formidable corrosion challenges. The conversion of sulfuric acid to sulfur dioxide was the focus of this study. The alloying of structural materials to platinum has been proposed as a solution to this problem. A catalytic loop to test the materials was constructed. Sulfuric acid was pumped over the material at 903+20C. The sulfur dioxide production of the catalyst was measured as a means of quantifying the efficiency of the system as a function of temperature.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Miu, Kevin (Kevin K.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ronald G. Ballinger.

• Mechanical Engineering.
• Nuclear Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36724

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36724