The assessment of nuclear hydrogen cogeneration system (NHCS) for CO2 conversion to urea fertilizer

This paper reviews the application of a nuclear hydrogen cogeneration system (NHCS) for conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to urea fertilizer. The NHCS is powered by high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR)with 2x600 MWt which is sufficient to produce hydrogen and heat energy to convert CO2 from coal-fired power plants with a power of 90 MWe to urea fertilizer of 1725 tons per day. As a source CO2, a coal-fired power plant is built near NHCS. Compared to conventional fertilizer plant, the NHCS application can save natural gas by 21.25x106 MMBTU/year, with a potential reduction in CO2 emission rate of 1.66x106 tons/year. Besides, there is still nuclear heat remaining at about 425.65 MWt which is equivalent to 140.46 MWe of electricity, and 90 MWe of electricity from coal-fired power plants that can be connected to electric grid. The paper also discusses the significance of the combination of NHCS and the technology of CO2 conversion which is expected to play an important role in the industry in the future as an environmentally friendly approach.

Keywords

NHCS, CO2 conversion, urea fertilizer, nuclear heat