By installing H+SOE in the same place as O=SOE, the amount of hydrogen generated is about 6900 kg/h alongside consuming 260 MWe, with total efficiency of 19%. The deaerator separates off all the oxygen delivered to the feed water and keeps the live steam free of oxygen contamination. The hydrogen is obtained in compressed (30 bar) form at high temperature (700\(^{\circ}\)C) and the heat can be used to further improve system efficiency.
Discussion
The paper contains an analysis of using high temperature electrolysis in integration with the steam cycle of a nuclear power plant by coupling the electrolyzers with a deaerator. This seems the least invasive way for the steam cycle. There are two different technologies taken into consideration: oxygen ion conducting and proton conducting. Both technologies have their advantages and drawbacks. We tailored the parameters of the electrolyzers to make them mutually comparable, setting the operational temperature at the same value (about 750\(^{\circ}\)C).