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Recent Canadian Advances in Hydrail and Nuclear Based Hydrogen Production

R. StaskoDirector, Business Development

Ontario Centres of Excellence

Dr. G. F. NatererCanada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps

© Rob ert Stask o, 20 07

Classic Electric Trolley in AstoriaOregon pulls its own diesel generator(why is this ironic?)

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1. Background: Sources of Hydrogen2. Market Drivers and Barriers: ‘Smart Grid’3. Hydrail: Why Hydrogen?4. Case Study: Lakeshore East GO train5. Hydrogen Corridor in Ontario6. Infrastructure Requirements7. Thermochemical Hydrogen Production8. Acknowledgements

Overview

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Emerging Energy Options

Infrastructure Overview

Electrolysis of Water:Pro: Distribution system in place, can be made with low

emission electricity, water plentifulCon: Capital intensive, and production cost depends on

local electricity rates

Methane Steam Reforming:Pro: Could be cheaper than incumbent transportation

fuels (per mile) and could be reformed locally at existing gas stations

Con: Produces 8 Kg of CO2 for each Kg of hydrogen (plus other emissions) and production cost depends on natural gas price

H2 Production: Electric vs SMR

High Temperature Direct Conversion:Pro: Has the potential to be the cheapest mode of H2

production per Kg. (25% to 40% more efficient) and can make use of waste heat streams.

Con: Capital intensive; likely requires Gen IV nuclear designs, will have to ensure no impact on licensing.

Advanced Photo-Catalytic Cracking of H2O:Pro: Could be cheaper than any other form of

production, sunlight and water is all that is requiredCon: Still under development, could be several years

from commercialization. May not compete with other technologies that produce electricity/hot water.

H2 Production: High Temp Nuclear and Photo-Catalytic

A majority of electricity in Ontario is produced from non-emitting and low-emitting generators, and this

share will increase with phase-out of coal

• The Ontario electricity mix is currently approximately 48% nuclear and 25% hydro. At night it is virtually all non-fossil sources.

• The Ontario government is still planning to phase out all coal generation by 2014.

• New capacity will come primarily from distributed renewable sources and clean, efficient gas turbine combined cycles.

• Hydrogen produced from electricity could therefore serve as a bridge between the increasingly clean generation mix and the transportation sector, bringing cleaner (and low-CO2) primary energy to this sector.

2001 Ontario Electricity Generation

OilNatural Gas

Other

Hydro

Coal

Nuclear

Total Generation = 152,739 GWh

Business Nature of Nuclear Power Production

• Nuclear power plants normally operate at 100% of rated capacity, they cannot ‘follow loads’. Nuclear generation forms the major component of base load supply in Ontario

• This means that power produced at off-peak hours must still be dispatched even if the spot market price is at or below cost of production

• Business development opportunities that could store off-peak power or could provide a higher value product will be of interest to any base load generator

Ontario Hydrogen Requirements Case Analysis Centralized Production

• It is estimated the equivalent of 20 CANDU (600 MW) reactors could provide the hydrogen to power most of Canada’s current automobile fleet of 17.3 million vehicles

Producing hydrogen for ~20% of Ontario’s vehicle fleet through centralized generation of hydrogen from nuclear sources

Using nuclear to produce the hydrogen required for 20% of Ontario’s vehicle fleet would require the equivalent of 2 - 600MW nuclear reactors

Central GeneratingStation

Step-Up Transformer

DistributionSubstation

ReceivingStation

DistributionSubstation

DistributionSubstation

Commercial

Industrial CommercialResidential

Gas Turbine

RecipEngine

Cogeneration

RecipEngine

Fuel cellPhoto

voltaics

Micro-turbine

FlywheelBatteries

The Emerging Electricity NetworkWind Farm

Small Hydro

What is a ‘Smart Grid’ ?• One that maximizes the capacity of the system via

use of sophisticated monitoring, communications and control hardware and software

• One that allows bi-directional electricity flow which enables net metering and local genaration

• One that effectively manages intermittent sources of generation such as wind and solar

• One that makes effective use of energy storage and VAR support to reduce line losses and work around system constraints

• One that fully enables a distributed energy solution including storage media such as hydrogen

The Quantum Leap to Smart Grid

Feature Existing Grid Future GridComponents Electromechanical Digital

Communications One-way Two-way

Billing Single Tariff Multi Tariff, Time of Use

Generation Centralized Distributed

Network Topology Hierarchical Peer-Peer, Adhoc

Sensors Few Everywhere

Visibility Blind (Dx) Self Monitoring

Restoration Manual Self-healing

Reliability Forced Outages Adaptive, Islanding

Maintenance Reactive Pre-emptive

Testing Manual / Local Self-check / Remote

Load Management Over-Provisioned Demand Response

Control Centralized Distributed / Localized

Customer Relations Broadcast Peer-Peer, Portals

Market Overview for Fuel Cells• Portable market: has already arrived but will likely be

manufactured offshore as a consumer product when fully commercial

• Fixed power market: will commercialize in 3 to 5 years (driven by de-regulating power markets, and greenhouse gas reduction)

• Transportation market: many early products will emerge but won’t be fully commercial for 7 to 10 years

• However, Niche Markets are doing OK (Back-Up Power Supply, Fork Lifts, Remote Power)

Enabled by GM’s fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion system, the Equinox Fuel Cell is a fully-functional crossover vehicle, engineered for 50,000 miles of life.

The Equinox Fuel Cell is able to start and operate in sub-freezing temperatures during its 50,000-mile life. It is expected to meet all applicable U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and is equipped with a long list of standard safety features while providing all of the environmental benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology.

GM Chevy Equinox (100 units)

FORD Hydrogen ICE Bus6.8 litre 12 cylinder engine, 16 passengers 240 Km range, designed for urban

commercial shuttle applications - FOUR running in Toronto

PHEV Projects Under Development This Year‘Its all about the CCIT technology’

• University of Waterloo & CrossChasm TechnologiesIntelligent Data Acquisition Interface for electrified fleets

• Project under development

• UOIT (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) & Partners Not Yet Publically Disclosed

• Integration of smart meters, batteries, smart charging, smart grid and onboardbattery managementsystems

• Project under development

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Hydrogen Corridor in Ontario

• Hydrogen Corridor with fuelling stations at least 150 km apart• Links communities with hydrogen activities in Ontario• Stretches from Sarnia, Ontario in the west, to Montreal,

Quebec in the east, a distance of about 900 km• Densest population base, more than 1/3 of all Canadians• Passes by two major nuclear power stations• Proximity to universities

and auto-makers withactive hydrogen programs

• Movement of people andgoods (trucking) near existing infrastructure

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Hydrogen Energy Research at UOIT

Nuclear Energy Hydrogen Production

Fuel Cell Vehicles

Hydrail

Automotive Centre of Excellence – climatic wind tunnel with full-

scale testing of hydrogen vehicles

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

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Hydrail

Advantages of hydrogen for trains over automobiles:- storage is not problematic since the occupied fuel volume is relatively unimportant- less fueling infrastructure, thereby reducing costs for wide-scale utilization and access to hydrogen- fewer operators, which simplifies the conversion process- reduced geographical dispersion- fewer fueling stations, potentially along existing railroads

(Source: Energy Centre at Appalachian State University)

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Hydrail

Source: A. Miller, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells 2007, Vancouver

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Case Study: Lakeshore East GO train

• GO Transit operates 181 train trips and 1,813 bus trips daily, carrying about 195,000 passengers on a typical weekday —165,000 on trains and 30,000 by bus

• CO2 emissions per train (Oshawa – Toronto route)*

• Fuel consumption for a diesel passenger GO train with 10 cars is about 500 L per 100 km (round trip from Oshawa to Toronto)

• More GHG reductions with PEMFC, but ICE closer to commercialproduction

* Subject to certain assumptions, approximations and idealizations (available upon request)

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Case Study: Lakeshore East GO train

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Case Study: Lakeshore East GO train

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Infrastructure Requirements - Hydrail

- Hydrogen storage and transportation- System integration, monitoring and evaluation- System operation and maintenance- Hydrogen codes, standards and regulations- Systems engineering, such as propulsion and controls- Management of standards for safety and performance- R&D activities, education and public outreach- Sector development and commercialization

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Steam Methane Reforming (SMR):- greenhouse gas emissions - rising prices, declining gas reserves

Electrolysis (existing technology):- 42% efficiency (electricity) , 30% net efficiency byelectrolysis for hydrogen, issues of cost on scale-up

Thermochemical cycle (emerging technology):- 55% heat-to-hydrogen efficiency from Aspen Plus simulations for the Cu-Cl cycle, 43% is more realistic- more than one-third gain in efficiency over electrolysis- additional large gains when “waste heat” is utilized

Infrastructure Requirements - Production

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Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) Cycle

H2O

O2 gas

H2 gas

electrochemical cell (70 C)

CuCl2 (s)

spray dryer(70 C)

heat recovery

CuO*CuCl2 (s)

HCl(g) production(fluidized bed; 400 C)

CuCl (s)OUTPUT

OUTPUT

INPUT

heat

H2O

heat

INPUT

INPUTwasteheat

O2 production(molten saltreactor; 500 C)

Cu-Cl cycle splits H2O into H2 and ½O2 (all other chemicals are re-cycled continuously)

CuCl (l)

CuCl2 (aq)

H2O

HCl (aq)

heat

HCl (g)

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Cu-Cl Pilot Scale Facility

Small test tubes

0.005 kg/day H2

ANL (completed)

Spray dryer

(2,700 kg/dayCuCl2 solid)

Molten saltreactor

(160 kg/dayO2 gas)

Fluidized bed

(2,100 kg/dayCu2OCl2 solid)

Pilot-scale Cu-Cl facility

500 kg/day H2 (starting in 2010)

CFI and other partners

H2 (g)

O2 (g)

CuCl2 (s)

HCl (g)

Lab engineeringscale equipment

5 kg/day H2 (in progress)

Small pre-commercial plant

50 tonnes/day H2 (starting 2018)

Large commercial plants

1,000 tonnes/day H2 (starting 2030; SCWR)

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Nuclear-Hydrogen Future

Time of Day/MonthH2 Storage

Industrial H2 Users

Hydrogen Fueled Future

DistributedPower

Transport Fuel

Nuclear Plant / Renewables

(Wind, Solar)Thermochemical Cycle

HeatHigh Capacity Pipeline

O2

Electrolysis

Electricity

Hydrail

OCE Projects Under Development •SOFC Fuel Cell for Waste Water Bio-Gas •Ford/U of Windsor PHEV - Hydrogen ICE •Distributed Energy Storage using Off-Peak Hydrogen Generation and Re-Dispatch

• Infrastructure for a Hydrogen Highway; Windsor to Quebec City

•Custom Conversion of H2O using Full Spectrum Photo-Catalysis

•Hydrogen Train Pilot for Ontario Commuters*

•Plus 20 to 30 more in 2008/2009 at the materials and/or sub-system level

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Hydrogen Economy in Ontario

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Collaborations and Partnerships

UOITUniversity of GuelphUniversity of TorontoUniversity of Western OntarioUniversity of WaterlooMcMaster University

Argonne National LaboratoryPennsylvania State University

University of MariborCzech Academy of Sciences

Atomic Energy of Canada LimitedRegional Municipality of DurhamOntario Power GenerationMarnoch Thermal Power Inc.GEA Niro Process Engineering

Durham Strategic Energy AllianceGeneration IV International ForumInternational Nuclear Energy

Research Initiative; I-NERIUniversity Network of Excellence in

Nuclear Engineering; UNENE

Acknowledgements

Atomic Energy of Canada LimitedOntario Research Excellence FundUNENE (Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaCanada Research Chairs ProgramOntario Centres of ExcellenceDurham Strategic Energy AllianceRegional Municipality of Durham