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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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The current status of heat pipe R&D
Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy–sponsored Microreactor Program recently conducted a comprehensive phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) exercise aimed at advancing heat pipe technology for microreactor applications.
Robert C. Moore, Milton E. Vernon, Edward J. Parma, Paul S. Pickard, Gary E. Rochau
Nuclear Technology | Volume 178 | Number 1 | April 2012 | Pages 111-118
Technical Paper | Safety and Technology of Nuclear Hydrogen Production, Control, and Management / Nuclear Hydrogen Production | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13551
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this work, we describe a novel design for a H2SO4 decomposer. The decomposition of H2SO4 to produce SO2 is a common processing operation in the sulfur-based thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production where acid decomposition takes place at 850°C in the presence of a catalyst. The combination of a high temperature and sulfuric acid creates a very corrosive environment that presents significant design challenges. The new decomposer design is based on a bayonet-type heat exchanger tube with the annular space packed with a catalyst. The unit is constructed of silicon carbide and other highly corrosion-resistant materials. The new design integrates acid boiling, superheating, decomposition, and heat recuperation into a single process and eliminates problems of corrosion and failure of high-temperature seals encountered in previous testing using metallic construction materials. The unit was tested by varying the acid feed rate and decomposition temperature and pressure.