Grant: Industrial Research Chairs

Canada is the largest per capita producer and user of hydrogen (H2) in the OECD. In 2004, its share was about 10% of the world total output with a global market value of roughly $60 billion. Over the next decades, H2 demand for current and new uses is expected to grow at significant rates. This could place considerable strain on an already declining feedstock. The use of fossil fuels to create H2 also raises concerns over the sustainability of such an approach, as global efforts to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases and regional pollutants become increasingly important. New sources of H2 production are beginning to emerge, and Canada is in an ideal position to take full advantage of these developments. Current H2 production capacity could be significantly increased if the use of H2 throughout the whole energy and industrial system were to be optimized. Some 350-400 kt/y of H2, enough to fuel 1.7 million light duty fuel cell vehicles, are lost annually in Canada from process inefficiencies associated with incomplete reformation of methane and separation losses to name two sources. This proposal addresses a near term R&D priority set by the industry. Distribution & delivery of hydrogen energy is a major cost factor and reducing it is especially important for by-product H2 and H2 from waste streams, which are not usually produced at the delivery point and whose recovery is top Canadian priority. This includes more cost-effective H2 transport and distribution technologies, and purification techniques through the use of advanced adsorbents. The proposed R&D program includes basic research and system engineering through five activities: a) in-depth understanding of the complex physicochemical phenomenon governing adsorption in novel microporous materials and high throughput screening by computational technique, b) synthesis of the screened potential candidates, experimental validation, and characterization, c) generating reliable analytical models and core properties critical for engineering process design, d) system engineering and validation, and e) techno economic assessment of adsorptive systems for H2 distribution and delivery.