Methodology for Thermal Analysis of Bayonet Reactor

Abstract

Whether green house gas emissions are mainly responsible for global warming or not, the truth is that they have to be reduced in order to improve air quality and to be able to face many problems which span from environmental issues to economical and political ones. Nuclear hydrogen production (NHP), defined as those processes that obtain energy from nuclear reactors to drive the chemical plants in which hydrogen is produced, have been studied since the early 70's as an effective way to provide clean fuels to the automotive and electricity industry. In the past, this concept was really far from industrial application; however, recent advances in nuclear and chemical technology are bringing these plants closer to reality. Two of the most promising NHP technologies have an important step in common: sulfuric acid decomposition, this part of the process is the most energy demanding and the one which operates at the highest temperature; therefore if some improvements in energy usage can be done in this section they will have a strong and positive impact on the whole process efficiency. In the present study, a very simple but realistic methodology is presented to simulate and analyze this important section, validation is achieved through direct comparison with experimental data and a thermal optimization is performed. A 4% reduction in energy consumption is achieved by varying the reactor's outlet temperature.