Configuring the thermochemical hydrogen sulfuric acid process step for the Tandem Mirror reactor

The sulfuric acid step was identified as the critical part of the thermochemical cycle in dictating the thermal demands and temperature requirements of the heat source. The general atomic sulfur-iodine cycle was coupled to a tandem mirror. The sulfuric acid decomposition process step was focused on specifically since this step can use the high efficiency electrical power of the direct converter together with the other thermal-produced electricity to Joule-heat a noncatalytic SO3 decomposer to approximately 1250 K. The blanket temperature was lowered to about 900 K, greatly alleviating materials problems, the level of technology required safety problems, and costs. A moderate degree of heat was integrated to keep the cycle efficiency around 48%, but the number of heat exchangers was limited in order to keep hydrogen production costs within reasonable bounds.