Albertan Erin Bobicki wants to make hydrogen a major resource in the energy development of the province of Alberta, in Canada, known for the exploitation of tar sands for oil production. His project: a microwave reactor to produce hydrogen in a more ecological and less expensive way.
Erin Bobicki, professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta, explains: “You have to understand that there is a lot of hydrogen produced and used in Alberta. It is mainly used for industrial processes of petroleum valorization. » Erin Bobicki also specifies that a company is able to consume 10,000 kg of hydrogen per hour to transform bitumen into diesel or oil.
She adds that steam methane reforming is the hydrogen production method favored “by large consumers and producers”. This is gray hydrogen, which is more polluting.
The other method of producing hydrogen uses electricity to separate oxygen and hydrogen from water through electrolysis. If electricity is produced from fossil fuels, then this technique produces greenhouse gases (GHG).
Erin Bobicki indicates: “We use almost 80% less electricity than the green hydrogen process, which means we have lower GHG emissions.” Additionally, its reactor technology does not require water.
The reactor imagined by Erin Bobicki and Murray Thompson, professor in the faculty of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada), can therefore overcome the problems of production methods while providing hydrogen for businesses and industries that consume large amounts of hydrogen.
The technology developed by the two researchers uses microwaves to heat particles. Within the reactor, low-frequency microwaves “crack” the methane to transform it into solid carbon and green hydrogen by pyrolysis.
The huge advantage of this technique is that it creates not a carbon dioxide molecule that goes up into the atmosphere, but solid carbon, which greatly reduces GHGs when hydrogen is produced.
In this specific case, this solid carbon must be used to optimize this GHG reduction. The idea is then to propose concrete solutions such as the creation of soil amendments, the filling of mines, the manufacture of tires, or even as a substitute for coal.
The solid carbon market is expected to reach $23 billion by 2026.
Hydrogen can thus play a driving role in the energy transition. In Canada, in the province of British Columbia, the latest economic plan identifies hydrogen as one of the key elements for a low carbon economy. This hydrogen production technique is of great interest to Alberta, which has launched several projects, but also the province of Saskatchewan with a thermal methane cracking hydrogen power plant project.
The reactor developed by Erin Bobicki and Murray Thompson produces one kilo of hydrogen per day. By the end of the year, they hope to produce 200 times more.
This reactor project is of interest to remote areas, because it would avoid transporting hydrogen by pipeline.
In the longer term, the two researchers believe that hydrogen could replace natural gas for heating homes, and diesel for truck transport.
The reactor project turned into a business creation: Aurora Hydrogen was born.
