Microwave-assisted catalytic gas reforming technology for clean distributed hydrogen

氢能有望减少温室气体排放，并帮助主要经济部门到2050年实现净零碳目标。加拿大拥有丰富的天然气供应，是世界十大氢气生产国之一，估计年产量为300万吨。天然气制氢提供了一个独特的机会，可以利用加拿大巨大的天然气储量来生产低碳强度的能源载体，而其他生产技术正在扩大规模。一个挑战是氢的储存和分配。将氢气从集中的生产地点分配到最终用户是昂贵且困难的。Nurionic Technologies（Canada）Inc. Nuionic（以下简称Nuionic）开发了一种具有成本效益的微波（MW）气体重整器，用于以低成本和分布式规模从天然气和沼气现场和按需制氢，这是应对氢气储存和分配挑战的一种解决方案。为了提高Nuionic气体重整技术的市场接受度和竞争力，该项目的目标是（1）开发一种强大的和商业上可行的MW响应催化剂，以最大限度地提高氢气产量和（2）优化Nuionic的气体工艺，以消除二氧化碳排放。新开发的催化材料预计将被纳入Nuionic的商业工厂产品。该项目的成功完成不仅将增加Nuionic专有MW技术在市场上的机会，而且有助于创造新的就业机会。

Hydrogen is poised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help major economic sectors achieve their net-zero carbon objectives by 2050. Canada has abundant supply of natural gas and is one of the top 10 hydrogen producers in the world, with an estimated 3 million tonnes produced annually. Hydrogen production from natural gas offers a unique opportunity to leverage Canada's vast gas reserves to produce a low carbon intensity energy carrier while other production technologies are being scaled. One challenge is the storage and distribution of hydrogen. It is costly and difficult to distribute hydrogen from a centralized production site to end users. Nuionic Technologies (Canada) Inc. (hereafter Nuionic) developed a cost-effective microwave (MW) gas reformer for on-site and on-demand hydrogen production from natural gas and biogas at low cost and at distributed scale, which is one solution to the challenges of hydrogen storage and distribution.To advance the market acceptance and the competitiveness of Nuioinic gas reforming technology, the project aims (1) to develop a robust and commercially viable MW responsive catalyst for maximizing hydrogen production and (2) to optimize Nuionic's gas process to eliminate CO2 emission. The newly developed catalytic materials expect to be incorporated into Nuionic's commercial plant products. Successful accomplishment of this project will not only enhance the opportunity of Nuionic's proprietary MW technology on the market but help to create new job opportunities.