Hydrogen Production from

Waste Heat

Reaction Sciences, Inc.

OCT 2005
Sponsored by CTC, Inc.
J. Dunn 508-870-0042
 New H2 Generation Process
V- Process
Overview
+ Thermochemical Hydrogen process converts medium-grade heat (450-500C)
and water to hydrogen.
+ Recover waste heat from power generation to increase overall efficiency of
power plant.
+ Hydrogen for refineries from the waste heat from refineries
+ Solar energy, waste heat from power plants, and waste gases can all be used
as the heat energy source.

+ Makes hydrogen at very

high efficiency and extremely Low Cost,
using NO FUEL, with NO EMISSIONS.
+ Integrated cycle with fuel cell can produce hydrogen from sunlight at
unprecedented high efficiency (40% vs. 15% PV).
HYDROGEN Cl2 H20 OXYGEN
OUT IN OUT

HEAT
VCl3
REVERSE
DECOMP. DEACON

HCl + O2
VCl3 VCl2

HCl –
O2
VCl3 SEP.
REGEN./
H2 GEN.

HCl
The V-Process comprises 4 steps:
1. Heating to ~420oC decomposes vanadium trichloride
into vanadium dichloride and chlorine gas:
VCl3 + Heat  VCl2 + Cl2
2. Chlorine gas is reacted with steam to produce
hydrochloric acid + oxygen (Reverse Deacon Reaction):
Cl2 + 2H2O (steam)  4HCl + O2
3. Hydrochloric acid and oxygen are separated.

4. HCl is reacted with vanadium dichloride from Step 1

to produce vanadium trichloride (which returns to Step 1),
and Generates Hydrogen:

VCl2 + HCl  VCl3 + H2

 V-Process
Thermochemical Hydrogen Production – Convert any source of heat
(approx. 400 C or better) to hydrogen and oxygen
 Power Plants:
Use the waste heat from power plants (an extremely abundant resource)
to make cheap hydrogen.

+ POWER PLANT
WASTE HEAT
THERMAL ENERGY

HYDROGEN

OXYGEN
 Cost & Environmental Comparisons
1 Gigawatt Plant
V- Process Steam Reform Nat’l Gas
• Plant Cost $120M • Plant Cost $120 million
• Ops expense $0.25/kg • Ops Expense $0.20/kg

• Fuel Cost = 0 • Fuel Cost $7.50/Mcf H2

30 year Fuel cost $ 22B
• Gas Consumption = 0 • 30 year Gas consumption
720 Billion Cu Ft
• CO2 Emissions = 0 • 30 year CO2 emissions
> 40 million tons
48% Efficient Power Plant
Use Hydrogen and oxygen as fuel on-site

POWER PLANT
WASTE HEAT
THERMAL ENERGY

HYDROGEN

OXYGEN

Electricity out at 48% conversion efficiency

Refineries
All refineries are net consumers of Hydrogen. It has to be made from fossil feedstocks
or purchased from a merchant gas vendor. With the v-Process the refinery could make
the needed hydrogen from its own waste heat. The oxygen has value too.

COMBUSTIBLE PROCESS THERMAL ENERGY

WASTE GASES & other heat

HYDROGE
N
To Refinery

OXYGEN
Solar Thermal to Hydrogen and Oxygen for Sunny
regions
Can use Concentrating Solar Thermal technology – even already-commercial
trough technology (shown) to convert sunlight directly into hydrogen.
Hydrogen can be
CONCENTRATING produced at low cost, and at very high efficiency.
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
THERMAL TECHNOLOGY

HYDROGEN

OXYGEN
If Solid Oxide Fuel Cells become economical,
then
Can be integrated with high-temperature fuel cells, including thermal integration,
to convert fuel into electricity at ~70% efficiencies instead of 45-50% for SOFC
SOLID OXIDE
RECYCLED THERMAL FUEL CELL
ENERGY / STEAM
THERMAL ENERGY

HYDROGEN

ELECTRICITY

70%
EFFICIENCY
OXYGEN

Fuel Source in
Solar + SOFC = 50% conversion to electricity from
Sunlight
Can be integrated with high-temperature fuel cells, including thermal
integration, to convert sunlight to electricity at unprecedented efficiencies.
ONLY INPUT IS
CONCENTRATING SUNLIGHT
SOLAR - Water is recycled SOLID OXIDE
RECYCLED THERMAL FUEL CELL
THERMAL TECHNOLOGY
ENERGY / STEAM
THERMAL ENERGY

HYDROGEN

ELECTRICITY

50%
EFFICIENCY
OXYGEN
 Markets and Competition
• 1st Process to use waste heat to make H2
and O2 from water at $0.35/kg H2
• Lowers cost of hydrogen for all uses
• Produces hydrogen far cheaper =$0.35/kg (Currently $2-7)
• About $700 billion / year in hydrogen values from
gas turbines alone, worldwide
• Additional value for Oxygen sales
• Low CapEx (About the same as a MSR Plant)
• Can use solar photon energy (PV) as well as Heat
• Can be used on site, for energy recovery
• No infrastructure requirements
 Summary
• Only Thermochemical Process to work
economically on waste heat (450-500C)
• Annual markets > $ 1 trillion
• Improves Efficiency of Power plants,
refineries and any other large source of heat
• Produces hydrogen cheaper than any other
method – NO FUEL, NO EMISSIONS
• Predictable future product (H2)cost
 Project Schedule
Months From Funding
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Phase I--Demonstrate Three Phase I

Reactions Separately
Phase II
Phase II --Integrate Reactions

Phase III -- Generate Phase III

Hydrogen (equivalent of 1kw)
Phase IV
Phase IV --Design/Engineer
Plot Application (250KW)
Phase V
Phase V --Construction

Phase VI
Phase VI -- Operation
 Development Needs
• Seeking $3.0 million Total
• Funding By Phase
– Phase I 350k
– Phase II 250k
– Phase III 500k
– Phase IV & V 1750k
– Phase VI 150k
– TOTAL $3M