Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier with a promising future to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the predominant existing methods of hydrogen production (i.e., steam-methane reforming- SMR- and coal-gasification) are carbon-based technologies that emit greenhouse gases. Thermochemical cycles of hydrogen production are promising alternatives to traditional hydrogen production methods, as they use water and heat as a feedstock, with no external emissions to the environment. Thermal energy and water are the main inputs, with electricity used to a lesser extent. The thermochemical water splitting process has the potential to minimize the carbon footprint associated with the current methods of hydrogen production and instead produce clean and sustainable hydrogen for use in a wide range of applications including decarbonizing transportation, marine and aviation, as well as greening the Natural Gas pipelines for domestic and industrial applications.The proposed research project builds on the success and effective partnership with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories over a decade of joint R&D work. The objective of this project is to optimize unit operations to form a fully integrated lab-scale loop as a first step to scale it up to a pilot-scale demonstration of the technology on an industrial scale for commercialization. There will be significant collaboration between UOIT, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Canadian Nuclear Labs. CNL will assist in the integration process leading to the commercialization of this technology while benefiting from the research outcomes of this project.