System Integration of the Cu-Cl Cycle of Thermochemical Hydrogen Production

氢是一种清洁能源载体，在显著减少温室气体排放方面具有广阔的前景。然而，现有的主要制氢方法（即蒸汽甲烷重整- SMR-和煤气化）是排放温室气体的碳基技术。热化学循环制氢是传统制氢方法的有前途的替代品，因为它们使用水和热作为原料，不会向环境排放外部气体。热能和水是主要的输入，电力的使用程度较低。热化学水分解工艺有可能最大限度地减少与当前制氢方法相关的碳足迹，而不是生产清洁和可持续的氢气，用于广泛的应用，包括脱碳运输，海洋和航空，以及绿色天然气管道用于国内和工业应用。

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.