Pyrochemical processes for the decomposition of water

摘要

Improved closed-loop pyrochemical processes for the decomposition of water in which at least one of the reaction steps in each process is carried out pyrochemically within the central reaction chamber of a thermonuclear reactor during and immediately after a thermonuclear reaction, and in which one of the reagents in or products of the chamber reaction is a metal having a boiling temperature which is higher than the decomposition temperature of the associated metal oxide. The product of the pyrochemical reaction which includes the metal element is in the condensed phase after completion of the reaction and may thus be easily separated from the remaining gaseous reaction products. The specific reaction processes disclosed include a two-step process in which the metal is reacted directly with water within the reaction chamber, and a three-step process in which the metal is reacted with carbon dioxide within the central chamber, the reaction products being thereafter used in later process steps for the actual decomposition of water. In either process, the initial chamber reaction yields a condensed metal oxide product which is thereafter split in a later process step, which also takes place within a central fusion reaction chamber, to yield oxygen and a condensed metal product. Tungsten (W) and Tantalum (Ta) are disclosed as exemplary metal reagents.