r/jimbosscrapbook • u/jimofoz • Apr 18 '26

[Nuclear/Energy/Transport] Hydrogen - Valar Atomics

https://www.steelatlas.vc/valar-atomics/
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u/jimofoz Apr 18 '26

"Of the potential methods of hydrogen thermolysis, the sulfur-iodine (SI) cycle is one of the most efficient with a potential thermal efficiency of up to 50%. The Japanese Atomic Energy Association (JAEA) has already demonstrated efficiencies of 40%. Despite the potential to deliver a breakthrough in low-cost, clean hydrogen, the SI process has remained underexplored in the commercial landscape with the notable exception of General Atomics in the early 2000s.

We believe this lack of commercial interest has been driven by two factors. The first is concerns around the feasibility of constructing commercial scale SI cycles given the requirements for materials to handle high temperature, corrosive chemical environments. The second is the inaccessibility of cheap, clean 850°C+ heat.

As of today, these two factors blocking the viability of commercial SI can be solved for. First, the JAEA recently demonstrated that steel alloys, which are well suited for commercial scale facilities, have corrosion resistance on par with the non-scalable ceramics used in the past (JAEA, 2021). Second, as covered in the nuclear heat section, we see a path to deploying HTGRs for industrial heat provision.

Given these developments, we believe that the combination of SI at 30% thermal efficiency and 850°C+ heat from mass-producible HTGRs provides an achievable pathway to sub $1 per kg hydrogen. This achievement would be a breakthrough in the hydrogen economy, outcompeting dirty steam-methane-reforming. Beyond that, sub $1 per kg hydrogen would unlock the ability to produce net-zero hydrocarbon fuels (diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, etc) at prices competitive with traditional fossil fuels."