System integration and optimization of copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle with various options for hydrogen production
type: CreativeWork
description: The Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical water splitting cycle is one of the most attractive alternative thermochemical cycles for clean hydrogen production due to its lower temperature requirement and better overall efficiency. CuCl electrolysis is considered a key process in the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production where H2 gas is produced by oxidation of CuCl particles dissolved in concentrated HCl solution. A lower electrochemical cell voltage than water electrolysis is a significant advantage of CuCl electrolysis and makes this process attractive for hydrogen production. Nevertheless, an integration of both hydrolysis and electrolysis processes is one of the most important engineering challenges associated with the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production. The kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction indicates the reversibility of this process. This requires H2O in excess of the stoichiometric quantity which significantly decreases the overall thermal efficiency of the Cu-Cl cycle. Moreover, the HCl concentration in the produced gas mixture of H2O and HCl in the hydrolysis reaction is in much lower concentration of the electrolysis reaction requirement for an effective electrolytic cell performance. In this PhD thesis, an integrated process model of the hydrolysis and electrolysis processes is simulated by introducing intermediate heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and HCl-H2O separation process consisting of rectification and absorption columns. In the separation processes, the influence of operating parameters including reflux ratio, mole fraction of HCl in the feed stream, solvent flow rate and temperature, and column configuration variables, such as the location of feed stage and number of stages on the heat duty requirements and the composition of products are investigated and analyzed. It is shown that the amount of steam generated in the HRSG unit satisfies the extra steam requirement of the hydrolysis reaction up to 14 times more than its stoichiometric value an…
abstract: The Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical water splitting cycle is one of the most attractive alternative thermochemical cycles for clean hydrogen production due to its lower temperature requirement and better overall efficiency. CuCl electrolysis is considered a key process in the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production where H2 gas is produced by oxidation of CuCl particles dissolved in concentrated HCl solution. A lower electrochemical cell voltage than water electrolysis is a significant advantage of CuCl electrolysis and makes this process attractive for hydrogen production. Nevertheless, an integration of both hydrolysis and electrolysis processes is one of the most important engineering challenges associated with the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production. The kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction indicates the reversibility of this process. This requires H2O in excess of the stoichiometric quantity which significantly decreases the overall thermal efficiency of the Cu-Cl cycle. Moreover, the HCl concentration in the produced gas mixture of H2O and HCl in the hydrolysis reaction is in much lower concentration of the electrolysis reaction requirement for an effective electrolytic cell performance. In this PhD thesis, an integrated process model of the hydrolysis and electrolysis processes is simulated by introducing intermediate heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and HCl-H2O separation process consisting of rectification and absorption columns. In the separation processes, the influence of operating parameters including reflux ratio, mole fraction of HCl in the feed stream, solvent flow rate and temperature, and column configuration variables, such as the location of feed stage and number of stages on the heat duty requirements and the composition of products are investigated and analyzed. It is shown that the amount of steam generated in the HRSG unit satisfies the extra steam requirement of the hydrolysis reaction up to 14 times more than its stoichiometric value an…
author: Aghahosseini, Seyedali
language: en
keywords: Process integration, Electrolysis, Hydrolysis, Experiment, Cu-Cl cycle
date published: 2013-08-01
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:35:30Z
provider: Ontario Institute of Technology
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Ontario Institute of Technology

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/10155/336