Assessment of very high-temperature reactors in process applications. Appendix III. Engineering evaluation of process heat applications for very-high temperature reactors

Abstract

An engineering and economic evaluation is made of coal conversion processes that can be coupled to a very high-temperature nuclear reactor heat source. The basic system developed by General Atomic/Stone and Webster (GA/S and W) is similar to the H-coal process developed by Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., but is modified to accommodate a nuclear heat source and to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG), synthesis gas, and hydrogen in addition to synthetic crude liquids. The synthetic crude liquid production is analyzed by using the GA/S and W process coupled to either a nuclear- or fossil-heat source. Four other processes are included for comparison: (1) the Lurgi process for production of SNG, (2) the Koppers-Totzek process for production of either hydrogen or synthesis gas, (3) the Hygas process for production of SNG, and (4) the Westinghouse thermal-chemical water splitting process for production of hydrogen. The production of methanol and iron ore reduction are evaluated as two potential applications of synthesis gas from either the GA/S and W or Koppers-Totzek processes. The results indicate that the product costs for each of the gasification and liquefaction processes did not differ significantly, with the exception that the unproven Hygas process was cheaper and the Westinghouse process considerably more expensive than the others.