Carbon dioxide zero-emission hydrogen system based on nuclear power

The possibility of a hydrogen production system for Fuel Cell (FC) vehicles, which was zero carbon dioxide emission based on nuclear power, was investigated. The reactivity of calcium oxide to carbon dioxide was used for the carbon dioxide fixation and also for heat source of fuel reforming in experimental discussion. Methane was chosen as the first candidate reactant for steam reforming. Simultaneous reaction of methane reforming and carbon dioxide fixation by calcium oxide was demonstrated in a reactor packed with a reforming catalyst and calcium oxide. High-purity hydrogen, of which the concentration was higher than one at reaction equilibrium of conventional reforming, was generated from the reactor under mild operation conditions at temperature of 500-600 degrees C and under pressure of 101 MPa. The efficiency of the fuel reforming system was estimated from the experimental results. The proposed system was expected to be applicable as a hydrogen carrier system in carbon dioxide zero-emission FC vehicles based on nuclear power. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.