• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.353-361
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• 2006

As one of the thermochemical water splitting hydrogen production cycles, which could be operated at the lower temperature below 1200 K, we investigated the feasibility of the cyclic operation of Ispra Mark 2 cycle with the addition of $ZrO_2$. The cycle is theoretically composed of three reaction steps; (1) 1st step($2MnO_2{\rightarrow}Mn_2O_3+0.5O_2$), (2) 2nd step($Mn_2O_3+4NaOH{\rightarrow}2Na_2O{\cdot}MnO_2+H_2+H_2O$) and (3) 3rd step($2Na_2O{\cdot}MnO_2H_2O{\rightarrow}4NaOH+2MnO_2$). From the TPR tests, the temperature ranges for $O_2$ production in 1st step and $H_2$ production in 2nd step were $550{\sim}750^{\circ}C$ and $650{\sim}750^{\circ}C$, respectively. In $MnO_2/Mn_2O_3/NaOH$ system, the formation of molten products due to the reaction between manganese oxides and NaOH were greatly decreased with the addition of $ZrO_2$. In addition, the results of a cyclic test were discussed with the viewpoint of $H_2$ production amounts and the feasibility of the process improvement.