Transaction Description:
GE AND INL WILL DEVELOP AND SCALE SOLID OXIDE CO-ELECTROLYSIS (SOCC) TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING LOW-COST SYNGAS FROM NUCLEAR HEAT AND ELECTRICITY, CULMINATING IN A SINGLE 50KW SOCC PROTOTYPE STACK INCORPORATED INTO INL’S SIMULATED NUCLEAR TEST BED. HIGH TEMPERATURE CO-ELECTROLYSIS IS THE SIMULTANEOUS REDUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND STEAM IN A SOLID OXIDE CELL PRODUCING SYNGAS (CO + H2). IN POWER-TO-LIQUID (PTL) CHEMICAL PATHWAYS, THE CRITICAL COST DRIVER IS SYNGAS GENERATION, THE KEY SYNTHETIC INTERMEDIATE TO PRODUCE A VARIETY OF FUELS FOR TRANSPORTATION, OR CHEMICALS AND POLYMERS. THE PROPOSED DEMONSTRATION OF SOCC IN A SIMULATED NUCLEAR TEST BED IS THE KEY DE-RISKING STEP, PROVING LOW-COST SYNGAS, PAVING THE WAY FOR FUTURE MW CLASS SYNFUEL DEMONSTRATIONS FIRST AT NATIONAL LABS AND THEN FIELD DEMONSTRATIONS. SOCC TAKES DIRECT ADVANTAGE OF LOWER COST NUCLEAR HEAT TO INCREASE THE SYNGAS PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY, DELIVERING THE LOWEST COST SYNFUEL PATH. THE TEAM WILL DEVELOP A DIGITAL MODEL OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT COUPLED TO SOCC AND FISCHER-TROPSCH, DEMONSTRATING THAT LOW-COST SOCC CAN DELIVER $3-4/GAL SYNTHETIC FUEL, COMPETITIVE WITH FOSSIL SOURCES. CELL SCALING TO LARGE FORMAT AT GE DRIVES LOW COST SOCC STACK PRODUCTION. THE INL INTEGRATION EFFORT TO TEST 50KW PROTOTYPE SOCC MODULE WILL GENERATE CRITICAL DATA SUPPORTING THE DIGITAL TECHNO-ECONOMIC MODEL FOR SCALED SOCC IMPLEMENTATIONS AT NUCLEAR PLANTS IN THE 20-300 MWTH LEVELS, INCLUDING: CONVERSION EFFICIENCIES, INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS, THERMAL ANALYSIS, AND SITE DESIGNS INCLUDING FEEDSTOCK (H2O/CO2) TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE USED TO A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A MODULAR SOCC IN A 1-5MW CONTAINER, BASED ON THIS SIZE CELL, ALONG WITH THE REQUIRED POWER ELECTRONICS AND RECUPERATION SYSTEMS.
CLEAN NUCLEAR HEAT AND POWER FOR CARBON NEUTRAL LIQUID FUELS PRODUCTION AT HIGH EFFICIENCY OFFERS A DECARBONIZATION ROUTE FOR AVIATION, SHIPPING, AND GROUND TRANSPORTATION WHILE LEVERAGING THE EXTENSIVE US DISTRIBUTION, STORAGE, AND PROPULSION INFRASTRUCTURE. THIS PRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR NUCLEAR PLANTS TO PRODUCE HIGH VALUE FUEL PRODUCTS WHILE PARTIALLY DECOUPLING FROM UNFAVORABLE GRID DYNAMICS, SUCH AS NEGATIVE ELECTRICITY PRICING ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH GRID PENETRATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY. NUCLEAR POWER IS IDEAL FOR THIS POWER-TO-LIQUID (PTL) FUEL APPROACH: HIGH-CAPACITY-FACTOR ELECTRICITY AND LOW-COST HEAT WHICH CAN DRAMATICALLY LOWER FUEL PRODUCTION COSTS WHEN UTILIZED IN HIGH TEMPERATURE ELECTROLYSIS.
THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP, AND DE-RISK, COST-EFFECTIVE SOLID OXIDE CO-ELECTROLYSIS COUPLED TO NUCLEAR HEAT FOR HIGHLY EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF SYNGAS. SYNGAS IS THE CRITICAL COST-DRIVER FOR SYNFUELS PRODUCTION, WHICH CAN ENABLE A NEW VALUE HIGH VALUE PRODUCT STREAM OF DECARBONIZED LIQUID FUELS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. THE FOLLOWING KEY OBJECTIVES WILL REDUCE THE CRITICAL RISKS FOR NUCLEAR ENABLED SYNFUEL PRODUCTION:
1) SOLID OXIDE SCALED CELL DEVELOPMENT (100CM2 TO 700-1000CM2 CELL SIZE) TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER STACK AND SYSTEM COSTS
2) INTEGRATION TESTING USING THE INL SIMULATED NUCLEAR TEST BED TO VALIDATE THE EFFICIENCIES AND SYNGAS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL
3) CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF 1-5MW SOCC CONTAINER, AND A CORRESPONDING TECHNO-ECONOMIC MODEL TO PREDICT COST CONTRIBUTIONS AND VALUE STREAMS FOR NUCLEAR ENABLED SYNFUELS IN THE ~$3-4/GAL RANGE
4) PLANT LEVEL TECHNOECONOMIC MODEL CAPABLE OF DISPATCH MODELING TO UNDERSTAND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR EXISTING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS TO LEVERAGE THIS NEW VALUE STREAM, AND UNDERSTAND SYSTEM LEVEL CONFIGURATION TRADES
COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT PAVES THE WAY FOR LARGER INTEGRATED MW SCALE DEMONSTRATIONS VETTING THE MODULAR SOCC CONTAINER DESIGN, FOLLOWED BY POTENTIAL FULL-SCALE IMPLEMENTATIONS AND PRODUCT OFFERINGS. THE PROJECT WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TWO BUDGET PERIODS, WITH A KEY GO/NO-GO AROUND THE DEMONSTRATION INVOLVING THE DELIVERY OF SUCCESSFULLY COATED LARGE FORMAT, SCALED, CELLS
