#806: CCEMC Grand Challenge: University of Alberta Fuel Cell
Most people think of fuel cells as batteries that can be used to power cars.
But Dr. Tom Etsell, a chemical and materials engineer at the University of Alberta, is thinking much bigger than that.
With funding from the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation’s Grand Challenge, Dr. Etsell’s group is working on a ceramic fuel cell that operates at 700 degrees celcius. And it converts industrial carbon dioxide emissions into carbon monoxide and water.
DR. TOM ETSELL: We’re proposing to feed a 50-50 mixture of methane and CO2 into a fuel cell. Then it reacts to form CO and hydrogen. And then we have developed a catalyst which selectively now reacts with the hydrogen to produce water and runs the fuel cell. The CO is untouched. So the net result is the product coming out is a mixture of water and CO. And the CO is a very valuable industrial raw material. And so what we successfully do with this fuel cell is we get rid of CO2, we produce electrical power, and we produce a valuable by-product in carbon monoxide.
Dr. Tom Etsell says the ceramic fuel cell would be installed at industrial sites like oil sands plants.
Thanks today to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation.
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation
Program Date: 2016-08-25