The Bridge to 100% Nuclear Hydrogen, Enabling Pure Ammonia

Presented on November 9, 2021 during the Ammonia Energy Conference 2021

Authors John Kutsch Thorium Energy Alliance

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Abstract

My talk will explain what the bridge to 100% nuclear hydrogen is, and how our LWR fleet can be saved by storage and industrial applications like producing Hydrogen at Scale for Ammonia production; and I will walk the audience through the processes and systems available to us, right now, today, to give new life to merchant nuclear and make the way for advanced nuclear.

Our storage systems allow for grid balancing and capacity stabilization using excess Merchant LWR nuclear capacity coupled to thermal and pumped storage, and the system would accept otherwise curtailed renewable inputs. With the storage capacity of 11,000 Megawatt Hours of Storage that is instantly dispatchable, our system provides for great stability of the USA grid.

Making H2 from Natural Gas is a wasteful process that is also un-economic at higher and very erratic unstable gas costs.

Our company along with Syntholene Inc. is building the Bridge to advanced high temperature nuclear by taking large amounts of excess LWR nuclear capacity and either storing it or using it to directly produce Hydrogen for Ammonia Production.

Studies conducted by Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA) and also Idaho Nation Laboratory (INL) have shown that a new generation of Thermal Pumped Storage systems would be the most effective means to bridging systems between merchant LWR nuclear and the future of high temp nuclear process heat.

Analysis has shown that our Thermal Pumped Storage systems are uniquely suited to be coupled to a pure High Temperature Steam Electrolysis H2 to a modern Haber Bosch process. The ability to immediately dispatch heat energy to where it is needed is a specific trait of our new systems approach to the first new integrated ammonia facility design in decades.

Working with Idaho National Lab Techno-Economic studies and the EPRI Lucid Catalyst Reports as guides, we will provide a retooled ammonia Industry with the H2, and power needed to make an industrial economy flourish.

Great advances have been made in commercializing High Temperature Steam Electrolysis Hydrogen, and it has been estimated that nuclear hydrogen-based ammonia making could reduce total CO2 emissions from ammonia production by 95% (Fischedick et al. 2014b).

Our client company Syntholene will lead the demand for cost-competitive nuclear hydrogen that exceeds 6 million tons per year.

Using systems designed by Thorium Energy Alliance and Whole World LLC Design Engineers, Industry could produce this hydrogen for the Haber Bosch units at $1 per Kilogram today, Using NEL or FCE High Temperature Steam Electrolysis and LWR excess capacity and curtailed renewables inputs, we produce under $1 a kilogram H2 , right now (!)

Topics Nuclear Ammonia

Authors ThoriumAlliance

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