3. Process Modeling of the Sulfur-Ammonia Cycle
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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A Continuous Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production Plant Design Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/98v9888g Author Luc, Wesley Wai Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO A Continuous Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production Plant Design A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Chemical Engineering by Wesley Wai Luc Committee in charge: Professor Jan Talbot, Chair Professor Richard Herz Professor Pao Chau 2013 Signature Page The Thesis of Wesley Wai Luc is approved and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii Dedicated to my friends and family iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... xiv Abstract ............................................................................................................................. xv 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 References ....................................................................................................................... 7 2. Background ..................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Thermochemical Cycles ......................................................................................... 10 2.2 Development of the Sulfur-Ammonia Cycle .......................................................... 14 2.3 Power Recovery System, Rankine Cycle ............................................................... 18 2.4 NaCl Phase-Change Thermal-Storage System ....................................................... 21 2.5 Solar Thermal Energy and Solar Fields .................................................................. 23 References ..................................................................................................................... 26 3. Process Modeling of the Sulfur-Ammonia Cycle ......................................................... 28 3.1 Aspen Plus Process Simulation Software ............................................................... 28 3.2 Aspen Plus Model Chemistry ................................................................................. 31 3.2.1 Thermodynamic Model, ENTRL-SR .............................................................. 31 3.2.2 General Chemistry ........................................................................................... 32 3.2.3 Thermodynamics of Molten Salts .................................................................... 34 3.3 The Oxygen Producing Half-Cycle Aspen Plus Process Flow Sheet ..................... 35 3.3.1 Simulation Blocks ............................................................................................ 36 3.3.2 Material and Energy Streams ........................................................................... 38 3.3.3 Process Flow Sheet Description ...................................................................... 39 3.4 The Hydrogen Producing Half-Cycle Aspen Plus Process Flow Sheet .................. 40 3.4.1 Simulation Blocks ............................................................................................ 41 3.4.2 Material and Energy Streams ........................................................................... 42 3.4.3 Process Flow Sheet Description ...................................................................... 43 3.5 The Rankine Power Recovery Aspen Plus Process Flow Sheet ............................. 44 3.5.1 Simulation Blocks ............................................................................................ 46 3.5.2 Material and Energy Streams ........................................................................... 47 3.5.3 Process Flow Sheet Description ...................................................................... 47 3.6 Tools in Aspen Plus ................................................................................................ 48 3.6.1 Design Specification Blocks ............................................................................ 49 3.6.2 Optimization Blocks ........................................................................................ 57 3.6.3 Calculator Blocks ............................................................................................. 60 3.6.4 Sensitivity Analyses ......................................................................................... 62 References ..................................................................................................................... 65 v 4. Base Case Results ......................................................................................................... 66 4.1 Energy and Mass Balances of a Continuous SA Thermochemical Plant ............... 66 4.2 Thermochemical Reactors, Chemical Absorber, and Electrolyzer ......................... 71 4.3 Separators and Scrubber ......................................................................................... 80 4.4 H2O Feed Pump and H2 Compressor..................................................................... 84 4.5 Heat Integration ...................................................................................................... 86 4.6 The Rankine Power Recovery System .................................................................... 88 4.6.1 Rankine 1 ......................................................................................................... 89 4.6.2 Rankine 2 ......................................................................................................... 92 4.6.3 Power Generation and Power Requirement ..................................................... 95 4.7 Sensitive Analyses, Temperature Profiles .............................................................. 96 4.8 Design Specification Results .................................................................................. 99 4.9 Calculator Block Results, ELECPOWR and PLANTEFF ................................... 104 4.9.1 Electrolyzer Power Requirement ................................................................... 105 4.9.2 Efficiency ....................................................................................................... 105 References ................................................................................................................... 108 5. Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 109 5.1 High Temperature Reactor Study ......................................................................... 109 5.2 Pressure Study Combined with High Temperature Reactor Study ....................... 114 5.3 Salt Concentration Study ...................................................................................... 118 References ................................................................................................................... 122 6. Cost Analysis .............................................................................................................. 123 References ................................................................................................................... 128 7. Conclusions and Future Work .................................................................................... 129 References ................................................................................................................... 133 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 134 A. Simulation Block Descriptions .............................................................................. 134 A.1 The Gibbs Reactor (RGibbs) Block ................................................................. 134 A.2 The Stoichiometric Reactor (RStoich) Block .................................................. 134 A.3 The Separator (Sep) Block ............................................................................... 135 A.4 The Flash Block ............................................................................................... 135 A.5 The Column Block (RadFrac) .......................................................................... 135