Publications

Nuclear hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide for alternative liquid fuels

Middleton, Bobby M.; Kazimi, M.S.

A preliminary study was conducted which considered capturing carbon dioxide from fossil-fired power plants and combining it with nuclear hydrogen in order to produce alternative liquid fuels for transportation. Among the alternative liquid hydrocarbons which can be used as fuel in internal combustion engines, the two that are most promising are methanol and ethanol. We choose these two because they are relatively simple compounds and can be used with only minor changes to the fuel systems of most automobiles today. In fact, there are some vehicles today which can operate with any combination of conventional gasoline, ethanol, or methanol. We estimated the quantity of carbon dioxide that would be emitted by fossil-fired power plants in the future. We then use this information to determine how much ethanol or methanol can be created if enough hydrogen is made available. Using the quantity of hydrogen required and the thermodynamics of the reactions involved, we estimate the nuclear power that would be needed to produce the liquid fuel. This amount of liquid fuel is then used to estimate the effect of such a program on conventional gasoline usage, need for foreign oil, and decrease in CO 2 emissions.