Hydrogen production by steam gasi®cation of coal in gas± solid moving bed using nuclear heat A. Belghit*, S. El Issami Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Bd Prince My. Abdellah, BP 2390, 40 000 Marrakesh, Morocco Received 2 July 1999; accepted 5 January 2000 Abstract In the present work, an attempt has been made to develop a theoretical model of a chemical moving bed reactor for gasifying coal with steam. The heat used to drive the endothermic reaction is provided by a high temperature nuclear reactor. The model describes the complex physical and chemical processes taking place in the multiphase moving bed using mass and energy balances and gives information about the rates of the chemical reaction and physical transport processes. The dependence of the reactor performance on control parameters Ð gas ¯ow rate, inlet gas temperature, fraction of ¯ow rate of H 2 O in the initial gas and diameter of particles of solid Ð is also studied. 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Heat and mass transfer; Porous media; Gasi®cation; Energy demand; Hydrogen; Nuclear reactor 1. Introduction Gasi®cation of coal is a well-known technique which has been performed worldwide on an industrial scale and in many forms. The energy necessary to drive the endothermic coal gasi®cation reactions can be supplied by partial coal combustion, by preheating the reactant gas or from an external source of heat. The energy requirements can be met by using concentrated solar energy [1±4], or by high temperature nuclear reactors (HTR). Energy Conversion & Management 42 (2001) 81±99 0196-8904/01/$ - see front matter 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0196-8904(00)00022-4 www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman * Corresponding author. Tel.: +212-4-43-46-49; fax: +212-4-43-67-69. E-mail address: belghit@ucam.ac.ma (A. Belghit).