international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen and

electricity cogeneration coupled with very high
temperature gas-cooled reactors

Xinhe Qu a,b, Gang Zhao a,b,*, Jie Wang a,b

a
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology Cooperation Innovation
Center, Key Laboratory of Advanced Nuclear Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University,
Beijing, 100084, China
b
Tsinghua University-Zhang Jiagang Joint Institute for Hydrogen Energy and Lithium-Ion Battery Technology,
Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

highlights

Two hydrogen and electricity cogeneration schemes coupled with VHTRs were proposed.

Energy and exergy analysis were conducted on the hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems.

The component with the highest exergy loss coefficient is SGs with values 12.9% and 14.7%.

The overall efficiency are 43.6% and 39.2% at hydrogen production of 100 mol/s for scheme 1 and 2.

article info abstract

Article history: Hydrogen production using thermal energy, derived from nuclear reactor, can achieve large-
Received 7 April 2020 scale hydrogen production and solve various energy problems. The concept of hydrogen and
Received in revised form electricity cogeneration can realize the cascade and efficient utilization of high-temperature
25 May 2020 heat derive for very high temperature gas-cooled reactors (VHTRs). High-quality heat is used
Accepted 8 June 2020 for the high-temperature processes of hydrogen production, and low-quality heat is used for
Available online xxx the low-temperature processes of hydrogen production and power generation. In this study,
two hydrogen and electricity cogeneration schemes (S1 and S2), based on the iodine-sulfur
Keywords: process, were proposed for a VHTR with the reactor outlet temperature of 950  C. The ther-
VHTR modynamic analysis model was established for the hydrogen and electricity cogeneration.
Hydrogen The energy and exergy analysis were conducted on two cogeneration systems. The energy
Cogeneration analysis can reflect the overall performance of the systems, and the exergy analysis can
Energy analysis reveal the weak parts of the systems. The analysis results show that the overall hydrogen and
Exergy analysis electricity efficiency of S1 is higher than that of S2, which are 43.6% and 39.2% at the hydrogen
production rate of 100 mol/s, respectively. The steam generators is the components with the
highest exergy loss coefficient, which are the key components for improving the system
performance. This study presents a theoretical foundation for the subsequent optimization
of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs.
© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology Cooperation Innovation
Center, Key Laboratory of Advanced Nuclear Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
E-mail address: zhaogang88@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn (G. Zhao).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
0360-3199/© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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temperature gas-cooled reactors, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
2 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

challenges; however, the majority of hydrogen is produced

Nomenclature from hydrocarbons, i.e., oil (18%), coal (30%), and natural gas
(48%) [2]. Only approximately 4% of H2 is generated from water
Cp specific heat at constant pressure (kJ/kg$K)
through electrolysis [3]. These processes are considered the
Ex exergy (kJ)
cheapest in the short and medium term. However, in the long
ex molar exergy (kJ/mol)
term, nuclear energy is required for extensive hydrogen pro-
G gibbs free energy (kJ/mol)
duction. Nuclear hydrogen production is one of the most
h enthalpy (kJ/kg)
promising methods of efficiently producing large-scale CO2-
n mole (mol)
free hydrogen. VHTRs are the most suitable for hydrogen
Q thermal power (kJ)
production owing to capacity to provide high-temperature
R molar gas constant (kg/mol)
heat. A VHTR could generate up to approximately 600 MWth
s entropy (kJ/kg$K)
at a reactor outlet temperature of 950  C or higher, which can
T temperature ( C)
achieve large-scale industrial hydrogen production [4] and
v stoichiometric number
replace the currently existing method of hydrogen production
W work rate (kJ)
using fossil fuels.
x molar fraction
There are five main hydrogen production processes that
h efficiency
may be considered to be coupled to a nuclear reactor: low-
m chemical potential
temperature electrolysis, high temperature electrolysis, ther-
DHHHV higher heat value (kJ/mol)
mochemical process, hybrid process, and chemical reforming
Abbreviations [5]. The thermochemical cycles are processes in which water
EED electro-electrodialysis cell is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen via chemical re-
GA General Atomics actions, using intermediate elements, which are recycled. The
HID hydroiodic acid distillation tower sum of all the reactions is equivalent to the dissociation of the
HIP hydroiodic acid purification tower water molecule. Because these cycles only use heat, without
HIR hydroiodic acid decomposition reactor having to convert it to electricity, they have the potential of
IHX intermediate heat exchanger being more efficient than electrolysis, and hence, significantly
INET Institute of Nuclear and New Energy reduce the cost of hydrogen production from water [2]. A
Technology higher temperature is required for higher process-thermal
IS iodine-sulfur efficiency. To date, a number of thermochemical water-
JAEA Japan Atomic Energy Agency splitting cycles have been proposed [6]. The iodine-sulfur (IS)
SAC sulfuric acid concentration tower process is considered the most suitable for hydrogen pro-
SAP sulfuric acid purification tower duction coupled with VHTRs.
SAR sulfuric acid decomposition reactor The IS process was developed by General Atomics (GA) in
SG steam generator the 1970s [7], and since then, substantial research has been
SP state point conducted on this topic, which is termed the GA process. The
VHTR very high temperature gas-cooled reactor IS cycle consists of the following three reactions:

Subscripts 2H2 OðlÞ þ I2 ðlÞ þ SO2 ðgÞ / H2 SO4 ðaq:Þ

0 environment

þ 2HI ðaq:Þ 20  120+ C (1)
C condensation
ch chemical exergy 

H2 SO4 ðgÞ / H2 OðgÞ þ SO2 ðgÞ þ 1 2O2 ðgÞ 800  900+ C (2)
D diffusion exergy
E electricity

E-H2 hydrogen and electricity 2HIðgÞ / I2 ðgÞ þ H2 ðgÞ 350  500+ C (3)
in input Reaction (1) is called the Bunsen reaction, which is
m enthalpy exergy exothermic. Lee et al. [8] proposed that 330e350 K is the
ph physical exergy optimal operating window for the Bunsen reaction. Reaction
Q heat exergy (2) involves sulfuric acid (H2SO4) decomposition, which is an
W work exergy endothermic reaction. This reaction consists of two stages:
sys System gaseous sulfuric acid is first decomposed into water and sulfur
out output trioxide (SO3) at 400e500  C, which is then decomposed into
sulfur dioxide (SO2) and oxygen (O2) at 800  C, at the catalytic
action [5]. Reaction (3) is the decomposition of hydroiodic acid
(HI), which generates hydrogen (H2) and iodine (I2). This re-
action can occur in the liquid phase or gas phase [9].
Introduction Research on the IS process has been carried out in many
countries, notably Japan, China, US and France. The Japan
Hydrogen is a clean and safe source of energy that plays a key Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been studying the IS process
role in ensuring an affordable future energy supply [1]. since the middle of the 1980s [10]. In 1998, continuous
Hydrogen helps solving a variety of important energy hydrogen production of 1 normal liter per hour (NL/h) was

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 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
demonstrated for 48 h in a lab-stage study. During 1999e2005,
JAEA completed their research on the design, construction,
and operation of a bench scale experimental facility for
hydrogen production of 50 NL/h. In 2004, hydrogen was
continuously produced for 1 week at a hydrogen production
rate of approximately 30 NL/h [11]. After the bench experi-
ments, JAEA completed an operation for 30 days in rated
operation mode and 50 days in high-temperature operation
mode in the HTTR, in 2007 and 2009, respectively [12].
The Chinese research team, represented by the Institute of
Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) of Tsinghua Uni-
versity, has also performed many studies on the IS process.
From 2005 to 2007, INET carried out a large number of basic
studies on the three parts of IS process: Bunsen reaction,
hydroiodic acid decomposition, and sulfuric acid decomposi-
tion [13,14]. At the end of 2008, a closed-loop test apparatus of
10 NL/h H2 was designed and established [15]. In 2009, the
entire process of continuous closed experiment was success-
fully conducted and hydrogen production lasted for 8 h. In
2014, an integrated laboratory-scale facility with a H2 capacity
of 100 NL/h was designed and constructed. Recently, 60 h of
continuous operation, with an actual H2 rate of 60 NL/h, was
successfully performed in the facility [16].
The concept of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration
coupled with VHTR is to use the high-quality heat of the VHTR
for the high-temperature processes of hydrogen production
and the low-quality heat for the low-temperature processes of
hydrogen production and the power generation, achieving the
cascade and efficient utilization of energy. Previously, re-
searchers in France and Japan carried out research on
hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs
earlier. Framatome proposed the concept of hydrogen and
electricity cogeneration in 2005 [17]. The reactor outlet tem-
perature was 1000  C, the reactor thermal power was 600 MWt,
the hydrogen production circuit was based on the IS process,
and the power conversion unit was based on the steam cycle.
Moreover, some French research teams conducted research on
the optimization of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration and
determined the most effective optimization method [18,19].
However, in the follow-up studies, France focused more on fast
reactors and the research work on VHTR was shelved.
The JAEA is committed to the implementation of a cogen-
eration scheme based on GTHTR300C [20]. GTHTR300C is a
VHTR with a thermal power rate of 600 MWt and a reactor
outlet temperature of 950  C, employing a Brayton-cycle gas
turbine for electricity generation and the IS process for
hydrogen production. In the cogeneration scheme, 170 MWt
was transferred to the secondary system used for hydrogen
production, and a hydrogen production capacity of 1.9 tons/h
was obtained at a hydrogen production efficiency of 45.5%.
The hydrogen production was rated at 1.9 ton/h at 45.5% ef-
ficiency. In recent years, JAEA has conducted a number of
experimental studies on cogeneration (HTTR-GT/H2) in the
HTTR to validate the design and control strategy [21e23].
Simultaneously, the JAEA also conducted some safety analysis
on hydrogen and electricity cogeneration [24].
In addition, some scholars have performed theoretical
studies on hydrogen and electricity cogeneration. Tomasz [25]
performed a thermodynamic analysis of a nuclear hydrogen
and electricity cogeneration based on a gas turbine direct cycle,
Please cite this article as: Qu X et al., Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with very high
temperature gas-cooled reactors, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
3
and concluded that the equivalent energy efficiency of the
cogeneration plant is 55.83%. Saeed [26] proposed the concept
of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration GT-MHR, and con-
ducted a thermodynamic analysis. It was concluded that the
reactor core is the component with the highest exergy loss in
the entire system and measures to improve the system effi-
ciency were proposed. Some scholars have also conducted
research on systems for producing hydrogen from other energy
sources, including solar energy and brown coal [27,28], etc., and
their research methods can provide reference for the study on
hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs.
In view of the future social and economic development’s
demand for hydrogen energy, and the advantages of using
nuclear energy to produce hydrogen, many countries are
actively conducting research on nuclear hydrogen production.
VHTRs are one of the most suitable reactors to couple with
hydrogen production. Hydrogen and electricity cogeneration
can achieve the efficient utilization of high-temperature heat
from VHTRs through energy cascade utilization, and improve
energy efficiency. However, the research on hydrogen and
electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs is still insuffi-
cient, and it is still at the conceptual design stage. Research
methods and system characteristics are not clear. Therefore,
it is necessary to carry out in-depth research on the hydrogen
and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs. In this
paper, two hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems
were proposed based on the Chinese development of high
temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR-10 and HTR-PM), and
the detailed energy and exergy analysis methods were given.
Hydrogen and electricity cogeneration system
The hydrogen and electricity cogeneration is a type of cascade
utilization of energy. The high-quality heat from VHTRs is
used for hydrogen production, and the low-quality heat from
VHTRs is used for electricity generation. The hydrogen and
electricity can be output simultaneously. In the cogeneration
system, the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) and the steam
generator (SG) are important, the heat from VHTRs is trans-
ferred to the hydrogen production and electricity generation
circuits through them, respectively.
The illustrations of the two hydrogen and electricity
cogeneration schemes coupled with VHTRs are shown in Fig. 1
(S1) and Fig. 2 (S2). VHTR provides heat to both the hydrogen
production and electricity generation units. In both schemes,
the IHX and SG of the power generation unit are connected in
a series. First, high-temperature helium from the reactor flows
through the IHX and then into the SG. In S1, part of the heat
required for the IS process is provided by the IHX, and part of it
is supplied by heat extraction from the steam turbine. The
heat required by the sulfuric acid decomposition reactor (SAR)
and hydroiodic acid decomposition reactor (HIR) is provided
via the secondary side helium of the IHX. The heat required by
the sulfuric acid purification tower (SAP) and the sulfuric acid
concentration tower (SAC) is provided by heat extraction from
the high-pressure steam turbine. The heat required by the
hydroiodic acid purification tower (HIP) and the hydroiodic
acid distillation tower (HID) is provided by heat extraction of
the low-pressure steam turbine.
4 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1 e Diagram of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTR (S1).

In S2, the heat required for the IS process is supplied by the
IHX. The heat required by the SAR and HIR is provided by the
secondary side helium of the IHX. The heat required by the
other four key components (HIP, HID, SAP, and SAC) is pro-
vided by the steam produced by the steam generator (SG2) in
the IHX unit. SAR, HIR, and SG2 are connected in a series. A
bypass in parallel with SAR and HIR is used to isolate the IS
process from the VHTR power generation unit and the heat of
the IHX can be derived by the condenser of the SG2 unit.
The electro-electrodialysis cell (EED) is shown in Figs. 1 and
2. As the concentration of HI in the hydroiodic acid phase
solution, obtained from the Bunsen reactor, is close to the
azeotropic point; thus, it is difficult to further purify solution
by distillation. The EED method can effectively concentrate
the HI solution, resulting in a higher HI concentration than the
azeotrope of the mixture [29]. The EED cells require a stable
power supply and do not require external energy heating and
cooling.
Comparing the two schemes, it can be found that the S1 is
simpler, and the steam can be directly extracted from the
steam turbine, but the S2 is more secure, and the hydrogen
production circuit and the electricity generation circuit are
isolated. In the S2, the SG2 can be used as a pressurizer when
the operating conditions change.

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temperature gas-cooled reactors, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Fig. 2 e Diagram of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs (S2).

IHXdIntermediate heat exchanger; SGdSteam generator; performance of the cogeneration system can be better evalu-
HIPdHydroiodic acid purification tower; HIDdHydroiodic ated by comprehensively using energy analysis and exergy
acid distillation tower; HIRdHydroiodic acid decomposition analysis.
reactor; SAPdSulfuric acid purification tower; SACdSulfuric
acid concentration tower; SARdSulfuric acid decomposition Energy analysis
reactor; CONdCondenser.
Based on the first law of thermodynamics, the energy balance
equations of the three key units of the system can be obtained.
Thermodynamic model The energy balance equations for S1 and S2 differ slightly. The
energy balance equation of the system will be established by
The thermodynamic performance of the hydrogen-electric considering S1 as an example.
cogeneration system can be evaluated using two methods:
energy analysis and exergy analysis. The basis of energy
analysis is the conservation of the quantity of energy, which is Table 1 e Molar standard chemical exergies for selected
the first law of thermodynamics. The basis of exergy analysis is substances [34].
the conservation of exergy, which is the first and second law of Compounds ex0ch (kJ/mol) Compounds ex0ch (kJ/mol)
thermodynamics. Whereas, energy analysis only reflects the
H2SO4 (g) 160.53 O2 (g) 3.97
external losses of the system, exergy analysis can reflect both SO2 (g) 310.99 H2 (g) 236.1
the internal and external exergy losses of the system and reveal H2O (g) 9.34 HI (g) 205.42
the system weak links [30]. Thus, the thermodynamic H2O (l) 0.77 I2 (g) 178.14

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6 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 2 e Main parameters of the hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems.

Reactor unit Electricity generation unit
Parameter Value Parameter Value
Reactor power (MW) 250 Main steam pressure (SP 21) (MPa) 13.9
Mass flow of the primary circuit (kg/s) 68.75 Main steam temperature (SP 21) ( C) 566
Reactor outlet temperature (SP 2) ( C) 950 Feed water temperature (SP 28) ( C) 205
Reactor inlet temperature (SP 1) ( C) 250 Steam temperature/pressure of SG2 (SP 16) ( C/MPa) 200/1.0

The energy balance equation of the primary circuit (reactor absence of electricity, magnetism, surface tension, and nu-
circuit) is: clear reaction, the overall exergy can be divided into three
parts: heat exergy, work exergy, and enthalpy exergy. Among
QR þ WC;1 ¼ QIHX þ QSG þ Ql;1 (4)
them, enthalpy exergy can be divided into four parts: potential
The energy balance equation of the IHX circuit is: exergy, kinetic exergy, physical exergy, and chemical exergy
[31]. Potential exergy and kinetic exergy are often not
QIHX þ WC;2 ¼ QHIR þ QSAR þ Ql;2 (5) considered in the analysis as they are negligible in magnitude
The energy balance equation of the power generation cir- for the given material streams [32]. Additionally, chemical
cuit is: exergy can be divided into chemical reaction exergy and
X diffusion exergy. The expression for heat exergy is:
QSG ¼ QSG;G þ QSG;IS;i þ Ql;3 (6)
i
X· X 
T0 ·
E xQ;i ¼ 1 Qi (13)
Ti
X X i i

QSG;IS;i ¼ MIS;i gIS;i (7)

The amount of work exergy is equal to the amount of work:
i i

X· X ·
where subscript c represents the circulator, subscript l rep- E xw;i ¼ Wi (14)
resents the thermal power lost, MIS the mass flow of steam i i

extraction for the IS process, gEX,IS is the latent heat of steam, The enthalpy exergy is then the sum of physical exergy and
and i refers to HIP, HID, SAP, and SAC respectively. chemical exergy (potential exergy and kinetic exergy are
The overall heat and work requirement of IS process is: neglected):
X
QIS ¼ QHIR þ QSAR þ Mi gIS;i (8) X· X· X· X·
i
E xm;i ¼ ni  exm;i ¼ ni  exph;i þ ni  exch;i (15)
i i i i

WIS ¼ WEED þ WEL (9) where exm;i is the molar enthalpy exergy, and exph;i and exch;i
are the molar physical exergy and molar chemical exergy,
where subscript EL represents the pumps and other compo-
respectively.
nents in the IS process. The definition of the efficiency of
hydrogen production is:
Physical and chemical exergy
DHHHV Physical exergy refers to the part of energy that can be con-
hIS ¼   (10)
verted furthest into useful work when the system reaches a
QIS þ WhEIS NH2

where DHHHV is the high heating value of hydrogen, which is

the amount of heat released when 1 mol of hydrogen is
completely burned to produce liquid water, and DHHHV-
¼ 285.83  103 kJ/mol. NH2 is the production of hydrogen in
mol/s. The power generation efficiency of S1 is:

WG  WP
hE ¼ P (11)
QSG  QSG;IS;i
i

The overall hydrogen and electricity efficiency is:

DHHHV NH2 þ WNET

hEH2 ¼ (12)
QR

Exergy analysis

In a given environment, exergy is the part of energy that can

theoretically be converted maximally to “fully convertible
energy”, which is unified between the quality and quantity, Fig. 3 e Total hydrogen and electricity efficiency at different
such as electromagnetic energy and mechanical energy. In the hydrogen production.

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 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

T*2 T*3 T*4 1

h  h0 ¼ AT* þ B þC þD E * þFH (18)
2 3 4 T

T*2 T*3 1
s ¼ AlnðT* Þ þ BT* þ C þD  E *2 þ G (19)
2 3 2T
where T* ¼ T/1000, and A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H are Shomate
constants.

Standard chemical reaction exergy

The standard chemical reaction exergy is that produced when
that the composition of the reactants is different from the
environment. The standard chemical reaction exergy can be
calculated using a reference chemical reaction, as follows:
X X
ex0ch þ vi ex0ch;i ¼ wmax þ vj ex0ch;j (20)
R P
Fig. 4 e Output power at different hydrogen production
rate. where ex0ch is the molar standard chemical exergy of the sub-
stance to be determined, v is the stoichiometric number, P
represents the products, R represents the reactants, and wmax
constrained balance through a reversible physical process. is the maximum useful work of the chemical reaction.
Chemical exergy refers to the part of energy that can be con- 0
Because wmax ¼  DG298:15 , Eq. (20) can be expressed as:
verted furthest into useful work when the system reaches an
unconstrained balance from a constrained balance through a 0 X X
ex0ch ¼  DG298:15 þ vj ex0ch;j  vi ex0ch;i (21)
reversible physical process (diffusion) or chemical process P R

(chemical reaction).
According to this relationship between the physical and
chemical exergy, the molar enthalpy exergy in Eq. (15) can be
expressed as follows [31]:
exm;i ¼ exph;i þ ex0ch;i (16)
Physical exergy can be calculated as follows:
exph;i ¼ hi  h0  T0 ðsi  s0 Þ (17)
where h and s are the molar enthalpy and molar entropy,
respectively, and the subscript 0 indicates properties at the
restricted dead state of P0 and T0. h and s can be evaluated
using the Shomate equations or Aspen plus. The Shomate
equations can be expressed as follows [33]:
Standard chemical exergy values for most substances can
be determined by the exergoecology portal [34]. The standard
chemical exergies of the substances involved in this paper are
listed in Table 1.
Diffusion exergy
Diffusion exergy is the useful energy produced when the
concentration of the components is different from the envi-
ronment, i.e., the chemical potential of component i in the
mixture (mi0 ) is different from that in the environment (m0i ). The
diffusion exergy is numerically equal to the minimum useful
work that must be consumed in order to reversibly extract the
mixture under the constrained equilibrium (T0 ;P0 ;mi0 ) from the
environment (T0 ;P0 ; m0i ), but with the opposite sign. Therefore,
the molar diffusion exergy can be calculated as follows:

X
k


exD ¼ xi mi0  m0i (22)
i¼1

where xi is the molar fraction of component i. For an ideal gas

or solution, Eq. (22) can be expressed as:

X
k
xi0
exD ¼ RT0 xi0 ln (23)
i¼1
x0i

where xi0 and x0i are the molar fraction of component i in the
mixture and environment, respectively, and R is the molar gas
constant. When the diffusion exergy of the concentration or
purification process needs to be calculated, the diffusion
exergy of the outlet can be calculated based on that of the inlet
to obtain the change in the diffusion exergy during the
process.

Fig. 5 e Power generation efficiency at different hydrogen Balance equation

production rate. The exergy balance equation of the system is:

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8 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 6 e Exergy loss coefficient of key components.

The exergy loss coefficient of component i can be

· X · X · X · expressed as:
DE xsys ¼ E xin  E xout  E xlost (24)
· .X ·
P _ P _ hlost;i ¼ E xlost;i E xin;i (26)
where Exin and Exout are the input and output exergies,
P _
respectively, Exlost is the sum of the exergy loss of the
The system exergy efficiency is the ratio of the output
components, including internal losses and external losses,
exergy to the input exergy, as follows:
_ sys is the system exergy change over time. For a steady-
and DEx
, ,
_ sys ¼ 0. Eq. (24) can be expressed as:
state system, DEx X· X· X· X·
hex ¼ E xout;i E xin;i ¼ 1  E xlost;i E xin;i
! ! i i i i
X· X· X· X· X· X
E xlost;i ¼ E xQ;in;i  E xQ;out;i þ E xw;in;i  E xw;out;i ¼1 hlost;i (27)
i i i i i i
!
X· X· The calculation formula for the exergy efficiency of
þ E xm;in;i  E xm;out;i
i i component i is:
(25) · ·
hex;i ¼ E xout;i E xin;i ¼ 1  hlost;i (28)

Results and discussion

The main parameters of the primary circuit used for the

hydrogen and electricity cogeneration refer to HTR-PM [35,36];
however, the reactor outlet temperature was improved to
950  C. The parameters of key state points (SPs) of the
hydrogen and electricity cogeneration in Figs. 1 and 2 are lis-
ted in Table 2. The data of the IS process is based on the
calculation results in Refs. [37].
Based on the above analysis model and parameters, the
two hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems were
analyzed and compared. The exergy analysis was conducted
on several key components. Figs. 3e5 present the results
obtained through energy analysis, which compares three
crucial parameters at different hydrogen production rate.
Figs. 6 and 8 present the results obtained through exergy
Fig. 7 e Output temperature at the primary side of the IHX
analysis on several components, which are at the same
at different hydrogen production rate.

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 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

Fig. 8 e Exergy efficiency comparison of key components.

hydrogen production rate of 156 mol/s. The reactor core was
not analyzed because it was not an optimization goal for the
hydrogen and electricity cogeneration system. The temper-
ature and pressure of several key points in S1 and S2 are
listed in Table 3 at a hydrogen production rate of 156 mol/s.
The comparison of the overall hydrogen and electricity
efficiency (hE-H2) of the two cogeneration systems, at
different hydrogen production rates (NH2), was shown in
Fig. 3 hE-H2 of S1 is higher than that of S2. As the NH2 in-
creases, hE-H2 of S1 increases, and hE-H2 of S2 decreases. hE-H2
are 43.6% and 39.2% at hydrogen production rate of 100 mol/s
for S1 and S2, respectively. The results of the exergy analysis
demonstrated the reason for the changes in hE-H2. In Fig. 6,
the components with the highest exergy loss coefficient in S1
and S2 are the SG and SG2, respectively. However, the SG
belongs to the electricity generation circuit and the SG2 be-
longs to hydrogen production circuit. The increase in NH2
indicates that the power of the hydrogen production circuit
increases and the power of the electricity generation circuit
decreases; therefore, the exergy loss of the SG2 increases and
the exergy loss of the SG decreases. The changes in exergy
loss of the SG and SG2 result in changes of hE-H2 at different
NH2. Notably, improving the exergy efficiency of the SG2 is
the key to increasing hE-H2.
Fig. 4 illustrates the relationship between the output power
and hydrogen production rate. At the same NH2, S1 has more
the output power than S2. As NH2 increases, the output power
decreases. This is because when NH2 increases, the power
ratio of the IHX increases, and accordingly, the power ratio of
the SG decreases. Fig. 5 illustrates the comparison of the

Table 3 e Temperature and pressure of key points in the cogeneration systems.

Temperature ( C)/Pressure (MPa)
S1 S2
Inlet Outlet Inlet Outlet
IS process SAR (Helium) 880/7.2 524/7.15 880/7.2 776/7.15
SAP (Water) 220.9/1.0 180/1.0 200/1.0 180/1.0
SAC (Water) 220.9/1.0 180/1.0 200/1.0 180/1.0
HIR (Helium) 524/7.15 480/7.1 776/7.15 763/7.1
HIP (Water) 188/0.75 168/0.75 200/1.0 180/1.0
HID (Water) 188/0.75 168/0.75 200/1.0 180/1.0
IHX Primary side (Helium) 950/7.15 (SP 2) 879.5/7.1 (SP 3) 950/7.15 (SP 2) 597/7.1 (SP 3)
Secondary side (Helium) 480/7.25 (SP 14) 880/7.2 (SP 11) 300/7.25 (SP 15) 880/7.2 (SP 11)
SG Primary side (Helium) 880/7.1 (SP 3) 245/7.05 (SP 4) 597/7.1 (SP 3) 245/7.05 (SP 4)
Secondary side (Water) 205/14.2 (SP 28) 566/13.9 (SP 21) 205/14.2 (SP 28) 566/13.9 (SP 21)
SG2 Primary side (Helium) e e 763/7.1 (SP 13) 300/7.05 (SP 14)
Secondary side (Water) e e 200/1.0 (SP 18) 179.9/1.0 (SP 16)

Please cite this article as: Qu X et al., Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with very high
temperature gas-cooled reactors, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
10 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
power generation efficiency (hE) for different NH2. hE of S1 is
higher than that of S2. As NH2 increases, hE of S1 is improved
and that of S2 is remains approximately unchanged. For S1,
the extraction ratio from the steam turbine, used for hydrogen
production, increases when NH2 increases. These steam
extraction is low-quality steam, therefore, hE is improved as
NH2 increases. For S2, it is not necessary to extract steam from
the turbine to supply the hydrogen production circuit, and hE
does not change as NH2 changes.
The results of the exergy analysis at the hydrogen pro-
duction rate of 156 mol/s indicate that the components with
the highest exergy loss coefficient (defined in Eq. (26) in S1 and
S2 are the SG with a value of 12.9% and i the SG2 with a value
of 14.7%, respectively. For both components, the inlet and
outlet parameters of the SG and SG2 need to be further opti-
mized. The overall exergy loss coefficient of the S1 is 32.6%,
and that of the S2 is 38.2%. This result is consistent with the
results of energy analysis. Fig. 7 illustrates the change of the
output temperature of the primary side of the IHX (T3) at the
different NH2. In S1, the hot end of the SG has a large tem-
perature difference (DT), which is a main reason of large
exergy loss coefficient. When NH2 is 156 mol/s, DT is 313  C.
From the definition in Eqs. (27) and (28), it can be observed
that the exergy loss coefficient is related to the heat transfer
quantity of the components and the exergy efficiency (defined
in Eq. (28)) can better reflect the performance of the compo-
nents. Of the analyzed components, the 1 # feedwater heater
has the lowest exergy efficiency. For S2, the exergy efficiency
of the SG2 is only 55.2%, which is consistent with the analysis
on the exergy loss coefficient. However, the exergy efficiency
of SGs are not low, 82.8% and 92.1% for S1 and S2, respectively.
In addition, the exergy efficiency of the concentration and
purification components in the IS process, especially SAP in
S2, is relatively low.
Conclusions
Hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs
can achieve efficient utilization of high-temperature heat from
VHTRs through energy cascade utilization, and improve the
energy efficiency. In this study, two hydrogen and electricity
cogeneration schemes coupled with VHTRs (S1 and S2) based
on the iodine-sulfur process were proposed. The energy and
exergy analysis were used to evaluate the performance of these
two cogeneration schemes. The reactor outlet temperature
was 950  C. In S1, the heat supplied for the purification and
concentration components in the hydrogen production circuit
was extracted from the steam turbine. In S2, the hydrogen
production circuit and the power generation circuit were iso-
lated. Thus, the following conclusions can be obtained:
1. The results obtained through energy analysis indicate that
the overall hydrogen and electricity efficiency of S1 is
higher than that of S2. As the hydrogen production rate
increases, the overall hydrogen and electricity efficiency of
the S1 improved, while the efficiency of S2 declined.
Furthermore, as the hydrogen production rate increases,
the power generation efficiency of S1 increases signifi-
cantly, while that of S2 remains unchanged.
Please cite this article as: Qu X et al., Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with very high
temperature gas-cooled reactors, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.080
2. The exergy analysis can reveal the internal losses in the
systems and explain the results of the energy analysis. The
components with the highest exergy loss coefficient are
the SG (12.9%) and SG2 (14.7%), for S1 and S2, respectively.
The optimization of inlet and outlet parameters is crucial
for improving the overall hydrogen and electricity effi-
ciency. The comparison of the exergy efficiency shows that
the 1 # feedwater heater has the lowest exergy efficiency of
the analyzed components. In addition, the concentration
and purification components in the IS process should be
further optimized.
The thermodynamic analysis model in this study lays a
theoretical foundation for the subsequent optimization of
hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs.
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work was supported by the National Key R&D
Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB1900500), the National
Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. ZX069), the
National Hitech R&D Program of China (863 Program) (No.
2005AA511010), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(No. 2019M650702), and the Youth Talent Project of China
National Nuclear Corporation.
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