Collaboration to develop manufacturing methods of electric microreactors for clean hydrogen production

氢被广泛认为是未来的燃料，但最终需要完全在没有碳排放的情况下生产。目前，大多数氢是通过甲烷的催化重整生产的。实现反应所需的热量是通过天然气的燃烧产生的，产生大量的二氧化碳。谢布鲁克大学（UdeS）的Mathieu Picard教授和Luc Fréchette教授的团队开发了高度集成的电加热微反应器，能够通过可再生电力取代气体加热并有利于出口流中的碳捕获来生产净零排放氢气。这些反应堆目前通过粉末床熔融金属增材制造来制造，需要8小时，每个反应堆的成本高达750加元，但它们必须以更快、更可靠的制造方法进行工业规模制造。扩散焊接有可能实现每天多达75个反应器的更一致的生产，同时将每个单元的成本降低到100 C$。与德国的Günter Khöler连接技术和材料测试研究所（ifw Jena）合作的目标是实现扩散粘结电加热蒸汽甲烷重整（SMR）反应器的概念验证，并与德国研究中心建立牢固而持久的关系。这项工作的主要潜在影响是为UdeS微反应器提供可靠的制造工艺，这是通过可再生能源生产氢气实现净零排放的关键一步。加拿大和德国签署了一项协议，就绿色能源创新和贸易进行合作，重点是开发水力发电的绿色氢气，出口到德国，这是两国到2050年实现净零排放的目标。除了其环境效益外，氢还提供了巨大的经济机会，因为该部门估计价值500亿加元，可创造多达35万个就业机会。

Hydrogen is widely regarded as the fuel of the future, but will eventually need to be entirely produced without carbon emission. Most hydrogen today is produced by catalytic reforming of methane. The heat needed to achieve the reaction is produced through combustion of natural gas, generating large amounts of CO2. Pr. Mathieu Picard and Pr. Luc Fréchette's team at Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) have developed highly integrated electrically-heated microreactors able to produce net-zero emission hydrogen by replacing gas heating by renewable electricity and favoring carbon-capture in the outlet stream. The reactors are currently being made through powder-bed fusion metal additive manufacturing, taking 8 hours and costing up to 750 C$ per reactors, but they must be manufactured at an industrial scale with faster and more reliable manufacturing methods. Diffusion bonding has the potential of enabling a more consistent production of up to 75 reactors per day while reducing the cost of each individual unit down to 100 C$. The goal of the partnership with the Günter Khöler Institute for Joining Technology and Materials Testing (ifw Jena) from Germany, an application-oriented research center with vast expertise on advanced manufacturing, is to achieve a proof-of-concept for a diffusion bonded, electrically heated steam methane reforming (SMR) reactor and build a strong and lasting relationship with the German research center. The main potential impact of this work is to enable a reliable manufacturing process for the UdeS microreactors, a crucial step towards the production of hydrogen through renewable energy with net zero emission.Canada and Germany signed an agreement to team up on green energy innovation and trade, with a focus on the development of green hydrogen from hydroelectric power for export to Germany, stemming from both countries' goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Additionally to its environmental benefits, hydrogen also presents itself as a great economic opportunity, since the sector is estimated at C$ 50 billions and could create up to 350 000 jobs.