Sodium Metal Production for Energy Storage from Warm Seawater Discharged at Nuclear Power Plant
- PDF / 1,390,908 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 80 Downloads / 153 Views
Sodium Metal Production for Energy Storage from Warm Seawater Discharged at Nuclear Power Plant Masataka Murahara1, 2 and Yuji Sato3 1 Professor Emeritus of Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan 2 M Hikari & Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd., Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan 3 Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
ABSTRACT The storage and transportation barriers of hydrogen are cleared by sodium metal “Source of Hydrogen” produced from warm seawater discharged at the nuclear power plant. The warm seawater is electrolyzed to produce sodium hydroxide; which is then subjected to molten-salt electrolysis by surplus power of the plant to produce sodium metal “a hydrogen generator”. The seawater contains salt most after fresh water; which is the raw material of sodium metal and is never drained. The sodium metal is transported to the electric power station in a consumption place, where a large amount of hydrogen is generated immediately by adding water on the sodium metal for power generation. Salt, the raw material of sodium metal, is in the sea over the world, and it is not necessary to worry about the maldistribution and exhaustion.
INTRODUCTION Sodium metal (salt) as alternative energy source to fossil fuel and reserves of fossil fuels Oil and coal are relatively light in liquid and solid, respectively, and their combustion wastes can be disposed on site; which makes their long-haul transportation and long-term storage possible [1]. However, their reserve production ratios are limited. The reserves of fossil fuel is as follows [2, 3]: 41 years for oil, 67 years for natural gas, and 165 years for coal. Nuclear power generation has been reviewed as a fuel that does not release CO2, but uranium is also exhaustive, 85 years. The depletion of the fuels is still concerned, and the energy resources are limited to the places rich in natural resources. Salt, which is the raw material of sodium metal, is present inexhaustibly in sea water and also exists abundantly as a rock salt or salt lake on the land. It is not necessary to worry about maldistribution and exhaustion of resources. Sodium metal production and hydrogen generation from sodium metal As shown in Fig. 1, with 100 tons of seawater and 18 MWh of electricity, 1.08 tons of Na, 90 tons of fresh water, 0.28 tons of H2SO4, 0.13 tons of Mg are produced, and then 2.09 tons of HCl is produced. The sodium metal of 1.08 tons is transported to a thermal power plant in a consumption place and brought into reaction with water there; then, 46 kg of hydrogen and 1.87 tons of sodium hydroxide are generated. Hydrogen is a very light gas, but a gas cylinder for its storage is very heavy and unsuitable for transportation. Being a solid material with a low specific gravity, the sodium metal immersed in oil can be stored for long and transported to a consumption place in the distance at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure like oil
and coal. At the power station, it reacts violently with water to generate hydrogen for hydrogenfueled combustion p
Data Loading...
