Canada

For more than a century our nation’s brightest minds have been working on the technology to turn the invisible promise of hydrogen into tangible solutions. Canadian ingenuity and innovation has once again brought us to a pivotal moment. As we rebuild our economy from the impacts of COVID-19 and fight the existential threat of climate change the development of low-carbon hydrogen is a strategic priority for Canada. The time to act is now.<br/>The Hydrogen Strategy for Canada lays out an ambitious framework for actions that will cement hydrogen as a tool to achieve our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and position Canada as a global industrial leader of clean renewable fuels. This strategy shows us that by 2050 clean hydrogen can help us achieve our net-zero goal—all while creating jobs growing our economy and protecting our environment. This will involve switching from conventional gasoline diesel and natural gas to zero-emissions fuel sources taking advantage of new regulatory environments and embracing new technologies to give Canadians more choice of zero emission alternatives.<br/>As one of the top 10 hydrogen producers in the world today we are rich in the feedstocks that produce hydrogen. We are blessed with a strong energy sector and the geographic assets that will propel Canada to be a major exporter of hydrogen and hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen might be nature’s smallest molecule but its potential is enormous. It provides new markets for our conventional energy resources and holds the potential to decarbonize many sectors of our economy including resource extraction freight transportation power generation manufacturing and the production of steel and cement. This Strategy is a call to action. It will spur investments and strategic partnerships across the country and beyond our borders. It will position Canada to seize economic and environmental opportunities that exist coast to coast. Expanding our exports. Creating as many as 350000 good green jobs over the next three decades. All while dramatically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. And putting a net-zero future within our reach.<br/>The importance of Canada’s resource industries and our clean technology sectors has been magnified during the pandemic. We must harness our combined will expertise and financial resources to fully seize the opportunities that hydrogen presents. This strategy is the product of three years of study and analysis including extensive engagement sessions where we heard from more than 1500 of our country’s leading experts and stakeholders. But its release is not the end of a process. This is only the beginning. Together we will use this Strategy to guide our actions and investments. By working with provinces and territories Indigenous partners and the private-sector and by leveraging our many advantages we will create the prosperity we all want protect the planet we all cherish and we will ensure we leave no one behind.

Hydrogen recombiners (known in the nuclear industry as passive autocatalytic recombiners-PARs) in general can be utilized for mitigation of hydrogen in controlled areas where there is potential for hydrogen release and ventilation is not practical. Recombiners are widely implemented in the nuclear industry however there are other applications of recombiners outside the nuclear industry that have not yet been explored practically. The most notable benefit of recombiners over conventional hydrogen mitigation measures is their passive capability where power or operator actions are not needed for the equipment to remove hydrogen when it is present.

One of most significant concerns regarding the use of hydrogen recombiners in industry is their potential to ignite hydrogen at elevated concentrations (>6 vol%). The catalyst heated by the exothermal H2–O2 reaction is known to be a potential ignition source to cause hydrogen burns. An experimental program utilizing a full-size PAR at the Large-Scale Vented Combustion Test Facility (LSVCTF) has been carried out by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to investigate and understand the behaviour of hydrogen combustion induced by a PAR on a large-scale basis. A number of parameters external to the PAR have been explored including the effect of ambient humidity (steam) and temperature. The various aspects of this investigation will be discussed in this paper and examples of results are provided.

The NREL Sensor Laboratory has been developing an analyzer that can verify compliance to the international United Nations Global Technical Regulation number 13 (GTR 13--Global Technical Regulation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles) prescriptive requirements pertaining to allowable hydrogen levels in the exhaust of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) [1]. GTR 13 prescribes that the FCEV exhaust shall remain below 4 vol% H2 over a 3-second moving average and shall not at any time exceed 8 vol% H2 as verified with an analyzer with a response time (t90) of 300 ms or faster. GTR 13 has been implemented and is to serve as the basis for national regulations pertaining to hydrogen powered vehicle safety in the United States Canada Japan and the European Union. In the U.S. vehicle safety is overseen by the Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and in Canada by Transport Canada through the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS). The NREL FCEV exhaust analyzer is based upon a low-cost commercial hydrogen sensor with a response time (t90) of less than 250 ms. A prototype analyzer and gas probe assembly have been constructed and tested that can interface to the gas sampling system used by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Emission Research and Measurement Section (ERMS) for the exhaust gas analysis. Through a partnership with Transport Canada ECCC will analyze the hydrogen level in the exhaust of a commercial FCEV. ECCC will use the NREL FCEV Exhaust Gas analyzer to perform these measurements. The analyzer was demonstrated on a FCEV operating under simulated road conditions using a chassis dynamometer at a private facility.

A palladium (Pd) doped mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst was used to produce hydrogen (H2) via water splitting under both near‐UV and visible light. Experiments were carried out in the Photo‐CREC Water‐II Reactor (PCW‐II) using a 0.25 wt% Pd‐TiO2 photocatalyst initial pH = 4 and 2.0 v/v% ethanol as an organic scavenger. After 6 h of near‐UV irradiation this photocatalyst yielded 113 cm3 STP of hydrogen (H2). Furthermore after 1 h of near‐UV photoreduc‐ tion followed by 5 h of visible light the 0.25 wt% Pd‐TiO2 photocatalyst yielded 5.25 cm3 STP of H2. The same photocatalyst photoreduced for 24 h under near‐UV and subsequently exposed to 5 h of visible light yielded 29 cm3 STP of H2. It was observed that the promoted redox reactions led to the production of hydrogen and by‐products such as methane ethane ethylene acetaldehyde carbon monoxide carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide. These redox reactions could be modeled using an “in series‐parallel” reaction network and Langmuir Hinshelwood based kinetics. The proposed rate equations were validated using statistical analysis for the experimental data and calculated kinetic parameters. Furthermore Quantum yields (QYୌ%) based on the H produced were also established at promising levels: (a) 34.8% under near‐UV light and 1.00 g L−1 photocatalyst concen‐ tration; (b) 8.8% under visible light and 0.15 g L−1. photocatalyst concentration following 24 h of near‐UV.

This paper examines the flame dynamics of vented deflagration in stratified hydrogen layers. It also compares the measured combustion pressure transients with 3D GOTHIC simulations to assess GOTHIC’s capability in simulating the associated phenomena. The experiments were performed in the Large-Scale Vented Combustion Test Facility at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. The stratified layer was formed by injecting hydrogen at a high elevation at a constant flow rate. The dominant parameters for vented deflagrations in stratified layers were investigated. The experimental results show that significant overpressures are generated in stratified hydrogen–air mixtures with local high concentration although the volume-averaged hydrogen concentration is non-flammable. The GOTHIC predictions capture the overall pressure dynamics of combustion very well but the peak overpressures are consistently over-predicted particularly with higher maximum hydrogen concentrations. The measured combustion overpressures are also compared with Molkov’s model prediction based on a layer-averaged hydrogen concentration.

This paper examines the helium dispersion behaviour in a 16.6 m3 enclosure with a small opening in the floor and distributed leaks along the edges. Helium a simulant for hydrogen was injected near the center of the floor with an injection rate ranging from 2 to 50 standard liters per minute (Richardson number of 0.3–134) through an upward-facing nozzle. In a short-term transient the helium distribution predicted with the models of Baines & Turner (1969) and Worster & Huppert (1983) matched the measured distributions reasonably well. In a long-term transient the vertical helium profile always reached a steady state which consisted of a homogenous layer at the top overlaying a stratified layer at the bottom. The helium transients in the uniform layer predicted with the models of Lowesmith (2009) and Prasad & Yang (2010) assuming a vent was located in the ceiling were in good agreement with the measured transients.

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) has acquired substantial consideration as a cost-effective hydrogen production technology. The anion ionomer content in the catalyst layers during hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER) is of ultimate significance. Herein an in-situ half-cell analysis with reference electrodes was carried out for simultaneous potential measurements and identification of the influence of the anion exchange ionomer (AEI) content on anode and cathode performance. The measured half-cell potentials proved the influence of AEI content on the catalytic activity of HER and OER which was supported by the rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements. Cathode overpotential of Ni/C was not negligible and more affected by the AEI content than anode with the optimized AEI content of 10 wt% while NiO anode OER overpotential was independent of the AEI content. For the same AEI content PGM catalysts showed higher electroactivity than Ni-based catalysts for HER and OER and the cathode catalyst's intrinsic activity is of high importance in the AEM electrolysis operation. Post-mortem analysis by SEM mapping of both AEI and catalyst distributions on the electrode surface showed the effect of AEI loading on the catalyst morphology which could be related to the electrode performance.

Alberta is preparing for a lower emission future. The Hydrogen Roadmap is a key part of that future and Alberta's Recovery Plan. The roadmap is our path to building a provincial hydrogen economy and accessing global markets. It contains several policy actions that will be introduced in the coming months and years and it provides support to the sector as technology and markets develop.<br/>Alberta is already the largest hydrogen producer in Canada. We have all the resources expertise and technology needed to quickly become a global supplier of clean low-cost hydrogen. With a worldwide market estimated to be worth over $2.5 trillion a year by 2050 hydrogen can be the next great energy export that fuels jobs investment and economic opportunity across our province.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the freight transportation sector are a significant contributor to climate change pollution and negative health impacts because of the common use of heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDVs). Governments around the world are working to transition away from diesel HDVs and to electric HDVs to reduce emissions. Battery electric HDVs and hydrogen fuel cell HDVs are two available alternatives to diesel engines. Each diesel engine HDV battery-electric HDV and hydrogen fuel cell HDV powertrain has its own advantages and disadvantages. This work provides a comprehensive review to examine the working mechanism performance metrics and recent developments of the aforementioned HDV powertrain technologies. A detailed comparison between the three powertrain technologies highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each is also presented along with future perspectives of the HDV sector. Overall diesel engine in HDVs will remain an important technology in the short-term future due to the existing infrastructure and lower costs despite their high emissions while battery-electric HDV technology and hydrogen fuel cell HDV technology will be slowly developed to eliminate their barriers including costs infrastructure and performance limitations to penetrate the HDV market.

The transition to net-zero emission energy systems creates synergistic opportunities across sectors. For example fuel hydrogen production from water electrolysis generates by-product oxygen that could be used to reduce the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS) essential in the decarbonization of clinker production in cement making. To assess this opportunity a techno-economic assessment was carried out for the production of clinker using oxy-combustion in a natural gas-fueled plant coupled to CCS. Material and energy flows were assessed in a reference case for clinker production (oxygen from air no CCS) and compared to oxy-combustion clinker production from either an air separation unit (ASU 95% O2) or water electrolysis (100% O2) both coupled to CCS. Compared to the reference air-combusted clinker plant oxy-combustion increases thermal energy demand by 7% and electricity demand by 137% for ASU and 67% for electrolytic oxygen. The levelized cost of oxygen supply ranges from $49/tO2 for an on-site ASU to pipelined electrolytic O2 at $35/tO2 (200 km) or $13/t O2 (20 km). The cost of clinker for the reference plant without CCS increases linearly from $84/t clinker to $193/t clinker at a carbon price of $0/tCO2 to $150/tCO2 respectively. With oxy-combustion and CCS the clinker production cost ranges from $119 to $122/t clinker reflecting a breakeven carbon price of $39 to $53/tCO2 compared to the reference case. The lower cost for the electrolytic supply of by-product oxygen compared to ASU oxygen must be balanced against the reliability of supply the pipeline transport distance and the charges that may be added by the hydrogen producer.